The Nine Stars: Cosmos Sailors
by StrikerStanding692
Summary: Honoka reawakens after living her life, only to find herself around the original members of μ's. With their purpose told to them to be peacekeepers of their assigned Multi-verse, their duty to protect their realm against the forces of the Shadow Lord was instilled in every one of the members. Thus, they are named: "Cosmos Sailors"
1. Prologue

_**My name is Honoka Kousaka.**_ _All the years I lived were fruitful. Childhood... My teenage years... Adulthood... And I even got through my middle ages too. It was like time flew so fast... and the next thing I know..._

 _I'm on my deathbed..._

 _But I live all throughout my life with no big regrets. I went through that stage of once going through a dream that shouldn't stop, even if it comes true. Sadly, being a school idol has its limits as well, once you're known around the country. But it's about dreams not stopping, not about groups at all. I realized that when μ's broke up, we wouldn't always be apart. We'd find each other one day or another. And so... years passed._

 _And guess what? I was happy and I stayed that way. The Kousaka sweets business went on through all the years, and it supported me through college too. My parents had that big break of proving themselves as the best sweets shop in town. The expenses itself and their efforts along with mine, propelled me forward, and I was able to finish my college studies... concerning music!_

 _I didn't pursue being an idol too early though. I was training at first. Then came the trials when I entered a music company, then a label. I got three years of my status as a music artist, as an idol! Finally!_

 _And although it was put to an abrupt halt, I kept going. I became a producer next. And with the purpose of making other dreams come true, I worked hard for future artists and idols alike. That took guts... and I gained so much reputation in decades than any other and finally became the deserving head of a music company. So much was gained through the years..._

 _And I stayed until I got weak. It was because I never stopped believing, that it got me to keep going until the last my legs or my stable breathing could take me._

 _Suddenly, I just find myself on my deathbed, with the air conditioner on. I'd rather let it be my last breath was relaxing... to at least keep me thinking, even slowly for that. My friends and family were there as they visited me while I'm on my way to the inevitable, but that didn't stop my belief I was coming to an end. I knew what was to be lost... but all the same, the last advice I gave them was not to cry, and should be glad that I'm about to move on. I won't die, but I'll live another life for all of them. Still... they cried. I didn't stop them, and I knew it was natural feeling a loved one lost is not a pleasant feeling._

 _And so as my last breaths were giving out, only my children remain. They know seeing me is heartbreaking, but nonetheless something as closure for them. As my last memories of my friends and family went through my mind when I closed my eyes, I breathed my last, and slowly, I fade from consciousness. Finally... I passed away._

* * *

 _It was all black I was seeing at first, but only my eyes were able to let me see a white and blue color portal of a sort, and it's an endless one while in high speeds I fly through it. The bright light at the far end of the portal was there, and it was so far away... but I focused, and I kept going faster. The light was getting closer much faster now, and for some reason... I'm feeling myself breathe again! It doesn't make any sense!_

 _And there's a meaning to it. I'll find out why once I get through that light. I reach my hand out as the light grew closer, and I see the brightness surround me. It was so bright I had to close my eyes. What was going on?_

All felt silent for Honoka as she slowly opened her eyes. She felt like she was stepping on something, but that didn't overwhelm her like what she saw: She was in a place that is given a natural white color with some sort of fog or clouds at a few places in the places. Then she looked at herself, dressed in white with matching shoes and gloves. But... that's not all there is to herself.

She knows she's aged as a teenager.

"Whoa... What is this...? Is this... heaven?" She asked herself aloud as she looked around, letting her short orange hair sway. ' _Where am I right now?_ ' Instead of staying there, she started walking and kept looking around. She moved forward, since she doesn't know about the cloudy place.

 _Everywhere I go, it was the same. It was the same cloudy spots I was seeing, like I was going in circles._

 _But just a few minutes later... another figure from afar was who I saw._

"Hello!" Honoka called out to the figure, who she later found out was in a dress as well. ' _Wait a minute... she's in a dress too. And she's..._ ' She gasped as her eyes widened. The same bright brown hair swayed. ' _No... it... can't be._ ' She thought of it as she walked faster, recognizing the teenage girl in the dress was too familiar. "Kotori?!"

Kotori was wide-eyed as she saw Honoka. "No... way! Honoka?!"

"KOTORI-CHAN!" Honoka ran as Kotori did before they both hugged each other tight. "Kotori... You're... here!"

"You too, Honoka-chan... You're..." Kotori couldn't complete her sentence even while they gently pulled away. They noticed from themselves they felt glad but weren't crying. "Honoka? Why aren't you crying?"

"Huh? That's the same thing I wanted to ask you."

"I don't know. It's natural to me, I guess."

"Oh." Honoka muttered it out before looking around, seeing other figures from afar in the cloudy or foggy place. "Wait... there are more."

"Honoka..." Kotori called out, once in thought. "What if... this wasn't a coincidence?"

"What do you mean?"

"Of all places and of all times while we're aged as teenagers when we already lived our lives, what if isn't a coincidence at all?" Kotori's idea surprised Honoka. She was right. Why were they there, and why were they aged as teens?

"You're right..." Honoka muttered it while seeing the figures close in through walking. "Wait... Eli... Nozomi... Umi..."

"Then there's Rin, Hanayo, Maki... and Nico?! Honoka... that's them! We're all here!" Kotori's idea was getting weirder and weirder.

And Honoka muttered out: "μ's... The whole group is..." And she gasped while seeing the other girls in the same white dress attires.

Eli looked around, surprised of this and ran to Honoka. "Honoka... Is that you? And Kotori Minami?" And after she asked, the two nodded.

" _ **There's no doubt.**_ " Nozomi said it while approaching Eli. "Long time, no see, Eli."

"Nozomi? It's been a while."

"Too long, perhaps."

" _ **Eh?**_ " Nico muttered it aloud, looking at all the girls. "You're all here? Isn't this strange? I'm supposed to be dead... right?"

" _ **That's a funny way of saying it.**_ " Umi replied while walking beside Nico and approaching the group's center. "Of all places, it had to be this strange place, and we're all gathered together."

" _I agree!_ " Hanayo called out from afar before approaching the group being made into a bunch.

" _It's the same with the rest of you then?!_ " Rin ran towards the group, recognizing every single face in the group. "This is... surreal. Where the heck are we?"

" _ **It beats me too.**_ " Maki finally joined up with the group. "But for some reason, the only thing that's not with me is sadness."

And Honoka might know way. "I don't know why, but certain emotions might have been blocked."

" _ **Blocked?**_ " The other girls said.

"I... just know. It might have been for the fact that all of us have died that sadness was wrapped around us, that we'd feel the same way when we leave our bodies. It's like a suppression method. This place or whatever situation we're in right now, prevents us from being sad."

"A suppression method?" Nozomi muttered. "Well, I get that point. But it still doesn't answer the question we're all wondering about from the time we're gathered."

"Yeah... I know. Of all the groups, it had to be μ's and we're all here at a time when we've all passed on. Why?"

And a woman's godly echo was heard. " _ **That... is a good question as any.**_ " Suddenly, the whiteness darkened, and everyone gasped...

 _I have a feeling we're about to find out soon enough..._

* * *

" _ **Honoka's Reawakening - Prologue"**_

 _ **END**_


	2. The First Of Many

_**Honoka –**_ _I can't always expect things to be pleasant. Or am I just over-imagining things? I don't know what exactly the explanation would be, but it's dark in here._

 _But the darkness was lit up below me when I saw I was standing on a round platform with lights._

"So this is it…" Honoka muttered, before…

" _ **Where am I?**_ " Kotori's voice was somehow to Honoka's right just before another round platform lit up. Kotori was standing directly on it.

"Kotori-chan?"

"Ah… Honoka! You know, I'd love to say I'm catching up to things, but… THIS IS SOOOOOO CONFUSING RIGHT ABOUT NOW!"

"Eh…" Honoka muttered it with eyes half-lidded. "Quit complaining, Kotori."

" _ **Think she's the only one?**_ " Nico's voice came from Honoka's other side, while seen standing on another lit round platform, and saw the black-haired teen glaring at Honoka. "I was standing here when the lights came off and…"

"You know what? What's happening right now, beats me. Okay?! For the first time in my life, I've never been so stupid and…"

" _ **Calm down.**_ " Eli's voice came from just around before she was seen standing on a lit round platform. "Nothing's going to change if we argue. Right, Nozomi?"

" _ **Right.**_ " Nozomi said it before she appeared the same way as the others, beside Eli. "The next thing we should expect is the reason we're all here, if you don't mind."

"Okay." Honoka replied before seeing Umi beside Nico. "There you are."

"About time too."

"Hey… we're forming up…"

"… _ **in a circle!**_ " Rin appeared next to Nozomi. "That means Hanayo's right beside me!" And as she predicted, Hanayo indeed appeared beside her. "Yay!"

"Eh…" Hanayo whined softly.

Maki eventually appeared between Hanayo and Umi. She seems to be looking around. "For a while, I've been analyzing stuff, guys. Listen up here." And her request for her other group mates to listen came well with eyes on her. "We all lived the same lives only for ourselves. We have children and probably grandchildren behind us, for some of you. Logic of this? I'm thinking we're given a chance to do something else."

"Something… else?" Honoka wondered about what Maki meant.

"μ's. This is one group that never broke up only until our limits as school idols brought itself to its peak back then. If we were summoned after all those years, it means something. It's not our practice moments or competitions back in our day, but it's certainly a link to why we're here."

"Ah…" Nico replied. "You think it had something to do with sticking together so hard?"

"It might just be the case."

"It's not just sticking hard like glue." Honoka muttered aloud before all eyes were on her again. "Huh? What?"

Nico smirked while crossing arms over the other. "Go on."

"Oh. Those moments we've been together have been tested. It's probably what defined how our lives could be given a real kickstart. To me, it was something to remind me that I needed to push forward to pursue my dream. And I did that with all my effort while I made other dreams reality back when I was living. I don't know what stories you have yet, but I want to know your sides too." After Honoka said what probably would have been her life story. They looked at each other at first, but then they looked back and nodded at her. "Thanks. I wanna catch up with all of you."

"Aw…" Kotori acted like she adores her friend. "You kinda remind me of a stuffed bear I saw back then!"

"DO I LOOK THAT CUTE?! AND WHEN DID THAT START?!" Honoka's pout was accompanied by a blue and white light in the middle of the circle of platforms. "Now I'm seeing… everything…"

A woman's voice echoed. " _ **Not everything, dear Honoka. Not everything.**_ " Soon, the space between the circle of platforms lit up with a light blue glow before a red-haired woman ascended from the same space.

Honoka's eyes widened up. There's the ninth person she thought she might have finally known. It was her. She was the woman who helped her define what singing for the group meant. Honoka was looking at the same redhead who was there in New York, then at Japan. "Wait… it… It can't be. You're… It's you!"

The woman was dressed in a grand yellow dress. Unlike the others who wore white dress attires, her dress extends to her feet. As she stood up straight and looked around, she smiled like she was glad in seeing them. Eventually… she faced Honoka. "So… everyone remembered what the meaning meant, huh? Well done."

"Eh?"

"You showed them what it means to sing from then. Maybe some already knew before you did, but you sealed it in their hearts what you said before you all sung for your last concert back then. That memory wasn't removed and it stuck to everyone who heard it."

Honoka noticed the other members look in surprise towards her. "Wait… Hold on…" She glanced towards the woman. "You're the one responsible for shooting us forward for our lives? No wonder things went well for me…"

"I was only the one to deliver something you needed to know, not necessarily the one responsible for your life getting its fruit continuously. It's true with me too. I once lived a life that made a good history. Things happened, and there was a need to disband the group. But it didn't mean our spark as a group disappeared altogether. Whether we'd entertain others or just ourselves, it's the same. We had life ahead of us and we needed to focus on it. But it's not bad to maintain friendship with those from the past, likewise in my case, the former group members I was with before."

"Okay..."

"It started when you have split up, didn't it?"

"Y-yeah. Starting from then... it just fell to our doorstep like it's a convenience." Honoka replied, before looking around the others. "It's the same with all of you, right?" They looked at each other at first, before they nodded at her.

"See?" The woman said. "It all applied with all of you. The group itself was only a stepping stone. No one should always expect groups to last, except if every group member is willing to make it a career. But all of you went your ways and made your own destiny with part of your hearts instilled from the group that made memories, not just around you but a lot of school idols that followed. You made hearts ignite and their hopes and dreams coming to reality became just a breeze. Honoka... You noticed that yourself, haven't you?"

"Yeah."

"Exactly my point. But it's not just your legacy you're leaving as school idols the reason why you're chosen. The reason you're chosen right now, is because you have teamwork when it comes to finishing things from where it starts. And that's exactly what makes up what we call: A Cosmos Sailor."

"C-Cosmos... Sailor?"

"Perhaps the room's a little too dark. It's about time I reveal to you your headquarters anyway." As the woman raised her hand, she snapped two fingers together before the lights finally lit up, only to reveal they're in a completely different place unlike their last meeting place. The place itself still have cloudy spots around, but it's not empty anymore. The room was filled only a few terminals of computers from one side. One side had an entertainment center. And as the girls predicted: Karaoke and some gaming stuff are included. Near there are some vending machines of drinks and snacks. Then one side of the place had an octagonal-shaped fighting ring for some reason. "This, I would want to make simple, is your Headquarters. Gives a little touch of what heaven feels like, huh?"

All of them were in awe of what they're seeing.

"Grand...?" Eli muttered.

"More like convenient." Nozomi muttered.

"Okay... this means something." Maki said to herself.

"Rin... check that out!" Hanayo whispered to Rin while pointing to the entertainment area.

"Oooh!" Rin took interest at what Hanayo's pointing at.

"This is... Too... much..." Umi and Nico muttered at the same time before looking at each other, realizing they both had the same idea. "You think so too?!"

Honoka slowly gasped in what she's seeing. Glancing back at the woman: "Wait... we gotta know something else. We're chosen... for what?"

"That's the next question I want you all to wonder about right now. Step off your platforms first." As the woman instructed, the girls left their platforms and slowly spread around the HQ. As they left their platforms, each platform changed color all relating to their hair, and they're named according to their first names, in Kanji characters. Soon, the woman followed them and led them just near the computer terminals before she stopped them. "Melusine!"

" _ **Jawohl!**_ " A mature teen girl's voice was heard before a navy-blue shining ball with wings flew in to the scene.

Kotori, who was silent the whole time was wide-eyed as she saw the little winged ball hovering and was so excited, she dashed without question to the ball and hugged it. "Come here! Aww... You're so cute?! I never knew you'd actually be a great companion to her! Who wouldn't think you're cute?!"

" _Eh?! Weg von mir, Matrose! (Get off me, Sailor!) I'm not a stuffed animal!_ " The blue winged ball then forced her way out by out of the Japanese teen's arms and hovered in front of her. " _Sheesh... you're so strong, Ms. Minami._ "

"How do you know my surname?"

" _I know every one of your surnames. It's just not Madam Sayuri who knows who you are._ "

" _ **Ehem...**_ " The woman known as Sayuri got Melusine's attention.

" _What?_ "

"You could have at least kept yourself silent for a little while for the introduction, Melusine. Anyway... Wing-form."

" _Roger._ " The blue winged-ball of light flew before it briefly shined bright before it was replaced by a blue-haired girl with wings. She dove down just before she suddenly flapped once and made a gust to hover and finally land on the ground. To their view, her blue hair was shoulder-lengthened. A light purple beret was on her head. It looked like her attire of white and light purple is of boot-camp origin, especially with her sleeveless shirt. But that's not all there is to her: She's actually 5 feet tall.

And Melusine noticed they all stared at her. "What? Haven't seen or heard a five-foot girl sounding mature?" She asked them, and they knew about her mature voice. But Melusine knew they were looking at something else, then looked behind her. An almost-transparent and pattern-made fairy wings were at her back. "Ah... You were looking at these. I see that."

"Umm..." Honoka muttered, and it turned into a question for Melusine. "Those are wings... right?"

"Fairy wings, actually."

"Okay. So... You're a..."

"Cosmic Fairy. That's the term."

"And..."

"You don't know much since it wasn't explained to you yet." Melusine glanced towards Sayuri, who then nodded at her. Melusine turned back to the girls. "You're all here, as she might have said before, to be Cosmos Sailors."

" _ **Cosmos Sailors?**_ " The other girls except Honoka muttered it out.

"Yes, yes. It was said before by Lady Sayuri, and again by me. But what are they anyway? Where did they come from? I'm going to be simple on the explanation: They come from everywhere. They're known to be the peacekeepers of the linked universes, known as multi-verses. And you're one of the groups concerned in keeping that peace. We may be out and around in secret, but we're also visible only on certain cases while we do our job.

"But then you're supposed to ask next: We're peacekeepers from what, exactly? First off... All of the multi-verses in existence were created by the gods. And the gods have an enemy... which we call: Shadows. And all of the shadows are based from one entity." She snapped two fingers before a holographic image came out in front of the girls. "He's otherwise known as Umbra Dominus, or..."

"...the Shadow Lord." Sayuri said, then continued. "To be specific, he incites the evils made in the multi-verses the gods have made. You name it: Steering others away from dreams that if it would come true would also meant he gets new adversaries, which he's trying to prevent. That's in his micro-spirit form. But his other forms could also be related to wars of one race against another, whether it's aliens from a planet to a race, or an alien of a country to a race. He's the definition of everything known as the wrongs of everyone else.

"Why he's come into existence, is a mystery until now. But we do know this: If everything in the worlds of every universe created were to be torn apart by the darkness and evil of the Shadow Lord, the rest of the universes may just fall easily. It's actually been occurring for so long that we had to keep finding guardians to protect the creations our gods made. And it starts in our multi-verse group, where he focuses more on breaking dreams apart. Here in our multi-verse, we're assigned to prevent dreams from ever breaking into the worst forms of evil the Shadow Lord wants to incite to others. He might be out of our reach right now, but we can stop the worst of his evil at our own neighbourhood."

" _ **Umm...**_ " Kotori muttered and asked. "What's a multi-verse?"

"I'll answer that." Melusine volunteered and continued. "A multi-verse is known to be a group of universes linked together, as one group. Our multi-verse consists of 20 universes, all with galaxies and planets in each of them, and everything else in between. So you see... space is bigger than you think." She winked and the others gasped at this.

Sayuri sighed, before continuing what was left to discuss. "I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? To start, I'm Lady Sayuri, main advisor and goddess of the Multi-verse Ambrogio, the multi-verse you're all in right now." And after making her introductions, the girls were in deep thought. "I know it's something big, and you all have a lot to think about. For now, Melusine will be continuing to discuss other things you need to know. I have other things to take care of. Multi-verses always have continuous issues going on, so I have to be there. Melusine, I'll leave the rest to you."

"Understood, Lady Sayuri."

"Thank you." Sayuri then glanced at Honoka. "I need to speak to you, Honoka." And with Sayuri's request, Honoka immediately walked towards the goddess and they walked away from the group to talk privately. They stopped at a corner just before she smiled towards Honoka. "Honoka, do you now know why you're here?"

"Y-Yes..."

"You seem unsure."

"I know. It's just... You're giving us a big task."

"Nothing's impossible with a Cosmos Sailor, Honoka. You lived your life, and it's time to move on from that. This is another life that's given to you, and your purpose has been defined. You defined your own life when you were living, and it's time that a higher purpose was given to you. Every one of your hearts has passed as you lived. And it's exactly the reason why you're here with your other group members. All of you were already destined to be here."

"Oh... Okay."

"I know you don't want to completely wrap yourself in what's complicated, so I'll make this simple for you, Honoka. You start off with being a Cosmos Sailor by trying to remember a little about what your life was, and apply it just as any other human does. From there, you'll be able to see the Shadow Lord's seeds of evil there. The rest... you will be handling yourself and your group."

"Eh? M-my group?"

"Yes, Honoka. I specifically asked you, to be the leader of the group."

"Ehhh?! B-b-but I don't know if I'm ready to completely make hard calls!"

"If anyone can do it, it's you. You can ask advice from your teammates as well, but it's always you who has the final call, Honoka. It already reflected on you when you reached your seventies. I'm sure you remember that."

"I do. That time... I was managing my own music company. There are times that bad stuff happens over the good ones, but we're able to counter that after a while."

"See? And it's because you never wanted to give up your own legacy. You never stopped believing, and it's one quality of a leader we're looking for."

"I see. Thanks."

"At any time you want to speak to me... privately..." Sayuri then browsed a pocket before she took out a folding phone with wing-decors on top. "Use this, only for emergencies if you feel you wanted to discuss something important, and something topping the other issues your group has relating to missions or their anticipation in events that aren't expected."

"Something... like my personal issues?"

"That's acceptable too, Honoka." Sayuri handed over the phone. Then... Melusine walked over to them. "Ah, Melusine. Is everything doing well?"

"Yes, Madam." And Melusine looked at the phone Honoka held. "A Leader phone, huh? You can use that to call Lady Sayuri anytime, so don't hesitate to ask questions too! Anyway... I'm about to show the Extensions you guys will use. Cosmos Sailors promote and protects the definition of peace around the multi-verse! So... you guys need something to pack a punch against any of Shadow Lord's minions. Wanna come with?"

Honoka looked at Sayuri at first, before turning to Melusine. "Hai!"

"Good to know." Melusine then glanced at Sayuri. "I'll see you around, Lady Sayuri."

Sayuri smirked at Melusine. "You might just get a headache if they'll be having problems with you."

"Ehh? Don't make it look like I can't handle it at all."

"Not at all, Melusine. Take care. And you too, Honoka." Sayuri then walked back before a spark from her chest suddenly enlarged, and she disappeared along with it.

Melusine glanced at Honoka. "So, Sailor-Lead, wanna see our Extensions?"

"Sailor-Lead?"

"That's your alias as a Cosmos Sailor here."

"Well, I'd like to!"

"Don't mind the alias?"

"It's okay with me. Although... the others should know about that."

"Oh, they'll know. Now come on." Melusine then led Honoka to the rest of the group...

* * *

 _ **Chiaka's Chamber of Multi-verses...**_

Sayuri appeared with the same yellow spark as she arrived at where she wants to be. Finding an Elder God won't be hard when you're being summoned by one, and Sayuri certainly took this as something important.

The dark-haired girl in a robe was standing looking at her big crystal ball, thinking very hard as she viewed the multi-verses in the crystal ball.

"Lady Chiaka?" Sayuri called out to the dark-haired girl recognized as Chiaka.

And Chiaka smiled seeing the goddess. "Seeing you is quite a relief, Lady Sayuri." She eventually saw Sayuri walk beside her before facing the big crystal ball. She pointed a finger on it. "See that spot?"

Sayuri frowned at the sight of it... seeing the dark blip on where Multi-verse Ambrogio is. "Yes... I do."

Chiaka sighed at this, giving up at her first attempt. "I was supposed to shout, but I can't. I don't know, but it might have been my fault to begin with."

"It's not."

"Thanks, but it's still my responsibility since this omniverse is shared once with Lord Adomas's. Sheesh... He would have told me there was something like this."

"But... I know he left his duty at a bad time."

"I know. His long penance." Chiaka sighed at this, now looking at Sayuri. "Listen... of all the times that you have to explain to our new Cosmos Sailors, it had to be this time. So... you didn't tell them yet?" And Sayuri shook her head in response. "That's good. If they find out they're the only ones in existence right now, they'll freak out beyond imagination, Sayuri. Don't tell them unless it's the right time."

"Understood, Lady Chiaka."

"I have to ask: You don't really see the Shadow Lord's presence as my fault?"

"Don't look at it that way, Chiaka. I told you: What I think is, it's not your fault. All we can do now, is what we must do. Is that good enough an explanation?" Sayuri's words may not have changed Chiaka's thinking about the grave situation, but smiled nonetheless.

"It's not completely there yet, but still, Thank you. If Adomas were here..." Chiaka sighed when she looked back at the crystal ball. "I may need his help right now."

"Maybe the reason why he's not here is a message already. He knows you can do this on your own."

"And I trust you, Lady Sayuri. Keep Multi-Verse Ambrogio safe and sound. I'll make sure the others know about the Shadow Lord."

"Whatever you wish, Lady Chiaka... It'll be done." Sayuri replied, before they were silent, monitoring the status of Chiaka's created omniverse, fused with the former Elder God Adomas's. The appearance of the Shadow Lord in existence, was only the beginning...

* * *

" _ **The First of Many – Chapter 1"**_

 _ **END**_


	3. Prepping for Case 1 (part 1)

_**1892... In a town in England...**_

The rain was pouring down on that afternoon. As the sweets shop was supposed to close, the old owner was cleaning up for the day. What other customer comes at a bad weather like this? He knows the rain won't be appealing to any customers and it happens every time that he doesn't get any. So instead, he'd rather be somewhere else.

But then the bell chime from the door rang and he looked at who it was: It was a brown-haired civilian 22 year old male named Charlie.

"Mr. Grace?" Charlie called out. "In here, old coot?"

"Laddie!" Mr. Grace called out with his Scottish accent from behind the desk after browsing some more wipes. "What is God's name are you doing here?"

"Oh... just coming around."

"It's not like a good time for coming around, lad. The rain is damn strong, and you're wet."

"At least I got here, Mr. Grace. Anyway, you got what I want?" Charlie's pattern of emotions changed to something serious in a quick glance from Mr. Grace.

Nonetheless, Mr. Grace went behind his desk just for Charlie. "Hold up." He muttered aloud, just before he pulled out a brown package.

"Come on, come on. I don't have all day." Charlie seems a little impatient.

And as Mr. Grace showed Charlie the brown package, he kept it held on his hand tight. "Lad, I have to ask: What exactly is inside the package?"

"Huh?"

"It's suspicious enough to have a pistol in it. You know how packages are treated these days, and you asked a favour from me to grab something that wouldn't go through authorities. And the way things are right now? Tch. I doubt you got any good things to tell me."

Charlie glanced away, not believing what he's hearing, before glancing back at Mr. Grace. "What are you saying, you grouchy old man?"

And the older fellow was surprised to hear that. "You'll know how to talk to your elders, lad. That tone just makes it rather very strange, so I won't give it. You'll have to find another way for this to get to your hands."

"I don't have any money, Mr. Grace."

"Then good luck getting the package yourself. If it has to be from my cold dead hands, so be it."

Charlie saw Mr. Grace turn around and walk back to his desk. As he glared at him from behind... ' _So be it then._ ' His thoughts matched the way the sharp object appeared from his sleeve before he walked towards the old man and pulled his arm back for momentum before letting the tip of the weapon pierce through the back of his head. The blade was simply so sharp that it lodged in through the center of the skull to the other side out the forehead. The old man's eyes were still before they slowly went up thanks to his death. Charlie pulled the blade out suddenly before grabbing that package and see Mr. Grace fall down forward, limp and dead now. "Well, you said it." He smirked, before his eyes show a dark aura around them. "It'll be fantastic if you were still around, but a nuisance just comes and goes, you old coot. Farewell." Then, Charlie turns his back on the dead old man and walks toward the door, hiding his blade before he finally leaves...

* * *

 _ **Cosmos Sailors' HQ...**_

The nine girls from μ's are looking at a hovering white stick of a sort.

 _ **Honoka –**_ _When I heard from Melusine that we'll be examining an 'Extension' of a sort, I wasn't expecting to see a floating stick. Then again, it might be something else._

"Ladies?" Melusine put the girls' attention onto her. "Pay attention, please. The kind of thing you're seeing her is called an Extension... BUT... It has a specific name." Melusine took the hovering stick into her hands before a blue light spiralled onto the roundness of the white stick moving up to the top. It ended up with that same blue light leaving blue star decor trail on it. "See... Any Cosmic Sailor or Fairy who holds a Neutral-type Extension can make a desired theme. Like with mine, I made up a theme once I held on to it. Extensions, are just like the word itself defines it: They are a part of you. Another thing this could be called is a weapon of sorts. Our Extensions can shoot out reverse energy the Shadows make, making this a weapon for both our offensive against and defence from the Shadows. But this is a multi-purpose Extension, since I said it can shoot our reverse energy. I call it the Cosmic Baton... but maybe it's a little too harsh. I should call it the Cosmic Wand, or something. I haven't really decided the name of it quite yet."

"Question." Kotori gets attention of Melusine. "Can an Extension be unique for any of us?"

Melusine smiles. "That's a good question, since this kind of step requires your experience first..." And as she was about to explain something else, an alarm went off, and one of the computer terminals began to show a text: 'Time-Distortion Alert.' "Whoa, whoa... That's impossible!" Melusine then ran to the computer terminal and immediately shut off the alarm. Furiously, she was pressing keys all over the terminal's keyboard before the screen in front of her started to show some sort of map in space.

Honoka was observing this herself.

 _From the time I thought the Cosmos Sailors were protectors of their assigned multi-verses, we're gonna be making some sort of crash course towards another thing she hasn't mentioned... yet._

Melusine still furiously pressed buttons on the keyboard when...

"What's going on?" Eli asked from the group. "Something we should worry about."

"Ms. Ayase, it's a bit of a problem that I talk to you unless my focus is on you." And afterwards, Melusine focused on her problem before hearing soft beeps. "Ugh... Verdammt noch mal. (Damn it all.)" She muttered it before facing the girls again, breathes in and out before speaking. "Ladies, this is one of the cases the Shadow Lord rarely or sometimes does right now. You guys ever heard of time travel?"

"I've heard plenty of it." Eli replied. "First thing that's being messed up with, is the past, which should never be touched."

"That's what many people believe, Ms. Ayase, but you're right. It's better the past not be touched at all. Or better yet, the fate of one event now, is based on the fact someone needed to go back through time. All we know now is that the fabric of time hasn't been torn up yet, and that's good. And to prevent that, all that's outside HQ has been frozen in time, to prevent any further drastic changes."

"W-What?!" Honoka reacted. "B-b-but..."

"Try to listen first, Ms. Kousaka, because you may want to hear this well. A Time-Distortion Alert will permanently put the HQ on hold for the time being, from moving in time I mean. The whole place allows time and space travel, so teleportation in your assigned Multi-Verse is no problem. But time travel is something much more sensitive and should be done with almost no critical error on the one who sends the subject back. Let me tell you this: We've entered something inevitable. We have to decide from one, or some of us, who will go back to the past and stop whatever a Shadow minion is about to do."

"W-well..."

"Nervous, Ms. Kousaka?" Melusine smirked. "I thought so. This is something we need to handle as a priority call. But don't worry. It doesn't have to be you who could get there. It can be anybody else. Anyway..." Melusine turned to the terminal and typed a few things on the keyboard before the space map has shown itself, while zooming into a universe. "The Time Distortion Alert happened in Ambrogio Universe 12, in the Hyura galactic system, and in a planet with a name that's similar to yours: Earth. You know, most planets with human inhabitants call their planets 'Earth,' and it's something you should be relieved of. So... this is how it's gonna be." Apparently, the image changed from an animation of transporting from one universe to another. Then she pointed at a spot on the monitor. "This is where HQ is currently positioned: Universe 6, Milky Way galactic system. Do you all follow, so far?" She asked them, and they seem to have no questions. "Alright, follow me."

Apparently, Melusine led them back to the platforms from whence they came from before seeing the room of HQ in the first place. "These are the platforms you stood on, right? See these platforms right now? They got your preference colors already set up, along with the Kanji-character names you all had ever since you were living. Enough about that though. See... this HQ can do two things: One is that you guys can teleport to any universe in our assigned Multi-Verse. The other, is that you can both teleport, and do a Time-Distortion jump, or just Time-Jump for short. Simply stand on the platform your name is on, just to organize things, and the sender's gonna do the rest for you as you get a good ride to the destination time... and location. A simple teleportation to a place can work without a Time-Jump operation, so you can practically go anywhere. Big big space, huh? It's an advantage we have right now to locating Shadow's all over our assigned sector.

"Oh, and one more thing." Melusine crossed an arm over another as she glared at each of the girls with her. "NOBODY, in basis of just protecting or observing, must know about who you are. Until we can secure certain universes, only then we could. But for now, the universes that allow the Shadows to monitor our progress are still active, and we need to disable them. And for us to disable them, we must train. And with the meaning of training, we get stronger, before we face our enemies head-on." And as she ended what she needed to say about main objectives, she changed the matter. "Any questions?"

Kotori glanced at Honoka who glanced at her, then shrugged. She then glanced at Melusine. "Umm... What happens if we unfreeze time right now, while there's a Time-Distortion Alert?"

Melusine sighed. "A very good question. If we start to unfreeze time right now, all of the events from the past will take hold, and you never know that it would have already been a big step, since a lot of events can occur and can bring more power to the Shadow Lord, and his minions at the same time. You never know: Certain people at this current existence might not even be born. Governments might have ended up differently from then. Worse: Shadows could have established a bigger area of their own thanks to that missed event. You don't know the full consequences of this if we don't do something. That's why, we treat this as a priority call. But don't worry though. There's one thing we can do, just before we go on."

They all saw the Cosmic Fairy point her thumb towards the hexagonal fighting ring. "All of you must have some experience. Thanks to your being Cosmic Sailors, this is easier. But you can choose to train your own body for the worst without your powers, which is much more recommended if you aim for extra endurance and improving your body, of course. For now, I'll make it easy for you." And with a smirk she raised the white stick with her blue star trail them on it. "You'll have to hit me once... with the Cosmic Baton. Oh? Did I call it that now? And by the way: I'm fast. So don't take me as an easy target either." She giggled at them and left them behind while she checked the fighting ring, not knowing the girls weren't taking this easily.

That surprised everyone. Melusine is five feet tall, and she says she's fast, and probably organized in her movements.

 _ **Eli –**_ _I don't know if I could beat her. But I do know... there might be a way to outsmart her. I don't know... but I'm willing to try it myself._

 _ **And later...**_ Melusine was in the fighting ring, while the girls are right outside of it. "So... which one of you girls is gonna lose miserably... first?"

" _ **I don't know about losing.**_ " Eli said while coming out from the group. "But I do know I don't refuse a challenge. You challenge them... and you already picked a fight with me." The others were shocked of this: What's Eli doing? Eventually, Eli joined Melusine in the octagonal ring before the doors were closed.

Melusine smirked at Eli before she threw the Cosmic Baton at Eli, who just caught it afterwards. "So... The plan's simple: Hit me."

The baton's theme changed into a trail of yellow stars as she held it tight. "I'm sure you know: Not everything's simple." Eli smirked back before speed made her suddenly disappear.

"ELI!" Nozomi shouted in worry before seeing Eli just beside Melusine and swung her baton.

And although Melusine didn't expect it, she blocked Eli's strike with another white stick of her own: Another baton with her themed pattern on it. While she was holding well against Eli as she pushed with the same force as the other girl did. "Is this my match? Have I finally found it?"

Eli dared and closed her face to Melusine's and whispered: "Let's find that out, shall we?"

"Let's!" Melusine suddenly stepped back while Eli did the same before they charged at each other. "COME GET ME!"

"HAAAAA!" Eli shouted her battle cry together with Melusine as they clashed...

 _This turned from a summoning, to quite a fun time. I'll have to say: Melusine should have fun like I do._

* * *

" _ **Prepping for Case 1 (part 1) – Chapter 2"**_

 ** _To be continued..._**


	4. Prepping for Case 1 (part 2)

_**Cosmos Sailors' HQ... Time-suspended because of Time-Distortion Alert...**_

 _ **Eli –**_ _Last I remember... I was just doing well against her. Now?_

Eli stumbled and slid on the floor of the fighting ring on her back to one side of it.

"Ah!" Nozomi was worried sick of Eli. "Ericchi!" She called her friend out...

...but Eli's not shaken from the call and instead ignores Nozomi while coming to. Her eyes focused on Melusine, who briefly hovers and puts her feet on the ground. Then, she struggled getting up. ' _Damn it... I made it this far... even after my life ended. I'm not going to..._ ' She stops thinking to focus on getting up. ' _I'm not giving up! Not here, not now!_ '

And Melusine was impressed as she saw Eli finally get up. "Aw..." She giggled evilly. "Ufufu... You simply don't have it, Eli. And yeah... we might just get stuck at this."

"You have a way of calling me as someone stuck."

"Tch. Speak for yourself. I remember you degraded people once. And guess what? We saw all of that from your life's memories too!" Melusine's revelation got Eli to wince. "Surprised there, Ayase? I wouldn't be, since I looked at parts of your life myself!"

Eli never really looked at that possibility herself.

 _At first, things were simple. Now... it's starting to get personal._

 _ **Meanwhile outside the fighting ring,**_ Umi, Honoka and Kotori were seated next to each other on the floor, watching the match take place. Eventually, Umi speaks up.

"Remember when Eli was still hesitant of calling this group something with... importance?"

Kotori noticed the emphasis Umi used on her last word. "Oh! It's not only to her, isn't it? It's for all of us."

"And it included those for Otonokizaka High too," Honoka replied next. "Nozomi told me about the way Eli was trying so hard for herself that she stopped. She was Student Council President then. But when I heard she was doing what she could for the school and not for herself, she's getting hurt for not admitting she just wanted to do something for herself. In this case... she wanted to join μ's, all the while she's a former ballerina even before we knew her."

"Know what I call it?" Umi rhetorically asked. "It's learning something new, seeing from a different angle, and seeing a better way for yourself that makes one an improved person. I think that's what happened then. I saw all those three things happen at once with her when we invited her to be with the group. That... makes an exceptional character for everyone. She endures not only the pain she personally has, but her sadness too. All that, is used to find what she really needs: A solution for herself."

And somehow, Honoka's surprised as something came up in her head. "Hey guys... Don't you think as Cosmos Sailors, something like it could be used as well?"

" _ **Huh?**_ " Umi and Kotori grunted in the sudden question Honoka gave.

Eli eventually throws her Cosmic Baton up in the air before catching it, now having red and yellow star trail patterns on her Extension. "You know, there are certain lines of privacy you shouldn't invade."

"Oh? What's this now? You wanna go against me while you're angry?"

"No. I'll go against you, like it's a pillow fight!" Eli ran and charged towards Melusine, now feeling more confident than ever.

"You don't stop, do you?!" Melusine then hovered and flew straight to Eli. "It's all the same! You're gonna lose!"

And Eli has a trick up her sleeve.

 _Because before that... I was able to recall memories back then. There wasn't anything special in me except how I endured pieces of pain I had before I even joined the group. That's what truly made me start to change to the person I'm really supposed to be. I was already a star when I was a ballerina, then when I was an idol. Maybe it wasn't different from being a Student Council President, but it was different as an idol._

 _I was helping myself._ Eventually Eli jumped and put the Baton on one hand before crossing arms over the other in front of her to make some sort of shield.

 _And even with the hurt and damages I feel, one thing is for sure... I outlast what doesn't break me!_

Eli screamed out before seeing Melusine swing back her baton.

All the girls gasped at what they saw. Melusine landed on her feet just opposite of Eli and facing against her opponent. But the little blue glow gave the cosmic fairy a little confusion. She turned around to see where the blue glow came from and was shocked to see Eli, standing on her two feet, surrounded by some sort of energy shield as a precise-shape form around her body.

"Whoa..." Melusine muttered it out, before shaking her head to focus. "Tch... Like I'd flinch from it."

"Just give it up, Melusine. I don't like to hurt you." Eli said, not flinching from her own energy shield she made.

"Sure... but you're unaware, aren't you?" Melusine asked, making Eli confused for a little.

The yellow-haired cosmos sailor was a little concerned: A little hue of blue was in her vision, but wasn't disturbing her way of looking around. But as she looked at her body, she was surprised to see the precise-shape energy shield around her. "Whoa... What is this?"

"You don't know? Then I'll tell you, IF YOU BEAT ME WITH IT!" Melusine smirked and suddenly flew and charged at Eli. Her opponent ran but actually jumped up, avoiding the charging cosmic fairy. ' _I know that. Won't fool me!_ ' She turned her body around before aiming the baton at her opponent before charging energy from it, and firing some sort of light-projectile at Eli. To her surprise, Eli took the hit like it was a very soft jelly. "What?!" Melusine got on her feet before she saw Eli land the same way and shoots a light-projectile at her. The cosmic fairy blocks it by swinging her baton to cancel the attack. "Think that'll help you?!"

"No." Eli anticipates Melusine as her opponent charges. She just walks while seeing Melusine swinging back her baton. Eli simply takes Melusine's swinging arm with her two arms and suddenly throw her to one side of the fighting ring. Melusine is seen hitting that side upside down before her body is actually brought to the floor thanks to gravity. "I only anticipate what I defend, I guess."

The others were surprised at this. Eli has really done it, thanks to her shield. Melusine was half-conscious when seen moving and shaking her head.

Nozomi was more relieved of Eli handling herself. "Wow... well done."

Eli looked back at Nozomi with a smile. "Thanks." And she looked back at Melusine, now getting back to her feet. "I think that hit was quite enough." She said it as her shield faded naturally from her.

Melusine chuckled as she looked at Eli. "Maybe I shouldn't have underestimated a cosmos sailor after all. That shield... It was your doing?"

"It's a little something related to accessing memories and getting something out of it. I remember what it was like, starting to do something for myself back then. But before that, was the fact I was in hurting. Everything else after I joined the group in the first place felt like the pain was half-suppressed."

"I guess it helps." Melusine said as she approached Eli. "I'm sorry if I gave you a hard time."

"It's natural, Melusine. It's fine. So... a shield?"

"No... It's not just a shield. I bet you'll hurt me on this next bit!" And she suddenly tried a spin-kick, only for her leg to be grabbed in mid-air and thrown to the floor by the same girl. "Ow..."

Eli smirked before letting Melusine go and offering her hand to her. "I think counter-attacking is a good thing too."

"Uhhn..." Melusine took Eli's hand and was helped up. "So it's not just a shielding ability, but a counter-attack ability too. I'm impressed. You're the first one to develop something like this."

"I guess."

"Oh well. This at least brings me to a conclusion: You're the one I'm going to send there!" And Melusine's words surprised the other girls, except Eli.

"I... see."

"Wait... Eli-san?!" Honoka reacted, while seeing Melusine and Eli leave the ring together. "But Eli's..."

"I'll be fine, Kousaka." Eli said as she glared from afar towards the unlikely leader of the group. Eventually a small smile formed before she followed Melusine. "You can count on it. I'm more than capable."

"All of you, follow me!" Melusine spoke up like it was a command, and the girls just followed. "I want you all to come close to the same terminal you were close of, just so you'll pay attention." Eventually, she reached the computer terminal and furiously typed on the keyboard like before.

Eli curiously watched the cosmic fairy do her thing, when...

"Feeling well?" Nozomi spooked Eli a little, but the Russian took this as a concerned act.

"I'm okay, Nozomi. Thanks."

"Nice job there. You kicked butt."

"I did, didn't I?" The two chuckled.

"Tch." Melusine snickered. "I hear conversations related to me, pretty easily. Okay, okay. I admit Eli wins there. Now, could you guys focus a bit?" And after a while, she was finally facing the girls again. "Alright... this Time-Distortion Alert is based on the year 1892 in Ambrogio Universe 12, in the Hyura galactic system. Earth is the name of the planet, like what you guys call yours. Anyway... The situation is this: The specific date is the 17th of July, in a simple town called Islesworth near Cambridge. What I saw there from the actual detection of the Shadow's energy source, is a murder of a sweets shop owner."

Honoka remembered something. ' _Sweets... Hmm..._ ' She smiled at that, but quickly got to focus on the details Melusine was giving.

"The name of the shop owner is Dean Grace... an old guy, but a good nonetheless. However, his past was actually related to smuggling forbidden firearms into cities even before he just gave himself cover as a sweets shop owner. We can't really tell who the murderer is, except that he left the shop after visiting Grace for something."

Eli took notice of the motive. "It must have been for picking something up."

"It actually is." Melusine replied. "Eli... since you're the one who's going to do this: Your first objective is to investigate the sweets shop itself. They'll be updated depending on what you find there. Actually... it won't be a short walk at all. I doubt it."

"It's okay. I don't expect things as they are."

"That's great then."

"Thanks. When it comes to tasks, I'm rather organized... unlike some others from before." Eli smirked at a certain unlikely leader before glancing away satisfied, knowing in the background, Honoka was silently being restrained by Umi and Kotori before she'd go out on an all-out attack against Eli and her antics for degrading the group before.

"Eli... Like the other girls in this room except me, you're wearing the standard white Battle Dress Model 6.5. I made six revisions from its prototype, and it's a very big improvement. It took years of perfecting it, and it's ready to go, as you're all wearing them right now."

"You're saying it like you're the one who designed this dress."

"Exactly. You're looking at the designer and maker of the Battle Dress itself." Melusine innocently smiles, while the rest are surprised of the revelation. "To continue... The Battle Dress itself has designed rips from the sides of the leg-lengthened skirts to actually enable you to run. The skirts are designs, along with the long socks you're wearing together from your shoes. Oh, I forgot to mention: You can control the Battle Dress according to your will. After all, I synced the whole thing with your mind, after all."

"Really? That's amazing. What exactly do I control it to do?"

"There are simple functions such as copying a certain attire a person wears, or putting the Battle Dress in Battle Mode, shortening the skirts to a comfortable size to when you'll be making more physical actions, unlike the limited white dress form." Melusine was about to explain something else when she saw a sight of Umi's face is a full blush. "Huh?"

"Umm..." Umi was certainly a little embarrassed in her thoughts, but continued to speak. "Uh... Did I hear right, that one thing about we wear, is that the dress... is shortened to have short skirts?"

"Uh... Yes."

"NOT AGAIN!" Umi shouted out, releasing a big atmosphere of pink-colored embarrassment, extending from her imagination until Honoka and Kotori got her to calm down while she hyperventilates in the situation. ' _It's happening again?!_ '

"Calm yourself, Ms. Sonoda. Your anxieties about short skirts are coming back... again." Melusine glanced at Eli. "So, other things you'd like to know?"

"Nothing for now." Eli replied, before making a fist with her confidence involved. "I'll follow up on the rest while I'm down there."

"Excellent. Then let's get you settled, Eli. Follow me." Melusine said it before walking straight to the platforms with Eli behind her. "Eli, you'll be travelling light on this one, since you'll only be bringing your Extension with you. The Cosmic Baton in your hand right now can be put in a hyper-dimension pocket. Since you're holding the baton right now, just open up your hand, even giving the feeling that you're letting it go. The instance it happens, make it disappear. Try it now."

Eli looked at the baton she's holding before she opened her hand and made no doubts as she mentally commands it to disappear, before the baton is accompanied with a flash of light before it suddenly disappears. "Oh. That's simple."

"See?" Melusine rhetorically asked before they arrived at the platforms.

" _ **Do you understand?**_ " Nozomi was behind Eli the whole time.

"Nozomi?"

"It'll be your first time going out in the world again, Eli. You know it'll be something completely different for you."

"I know that."

"Then you're ready?"

"I am, Nozomi. Thanks for being concerned of me. I... I don't know what I'd do without you after all those years."

"You know... my cards tell me you'll be well when you get there. The rest? You'll have to make your own destiny there. It's the past after all."

"Oh... I see. Thanks for that."

" _ **Ready yet?**_ " Melusine asked in concern. "If you can't do it, let me know."

And Eli faced the cosmic fairy with faith in her. "Shame. You got no faith in me."

"Tch. I never doubted you for a second, Ms. Ayase. Now get on your platform, will ya?" Melusine pointed on where Eli's platform is, and with no doubt got her to finally step on it. "Good luck. I'll be at the terminal to set the coordinates and the time as well. The HQ will coexist along with anyone outside it, to the current time, and its existing timeline."

"That'll mean we won't get any help from anyone in the future of that time, right?"

"Right."

"I'm not afraid." Eli crossed an arm over another and smirked. "You're not trying to catch me off-guard again, are you?"

"Okay, fine. You got me again."

"Good." Eli then saw Melusine turn her back and head for the terminal. Meanwhile, she saw the other girls near Nozomi. "All of you... Thanks. From the time I remembered I needed to help myself, I began my changes. Now... I'm here." Then she looked at Honoka, Umi and Kotori. "You three shouldn't forget your place in this. This group stood up from other school idols before. Let's try to aim we stand out from other peacekeepers that exist now. I'll say that's our goal for now, but we should handle this particular problem first."

Honoka nodded. "Don't worry about us. We'll be supporting you the whole way."

" _They will._ " Melusine said as a little voice in Eli's ear. " _The Battle Dress also has the internal communications system. Since your body's attached to the Battle Dress, you'll be quite impressed as to how this is done._ "

"Mind telling me now?"

" _If I tell you, your guts won't take it._ "

"Tch."

" _Another time. I'm setting everything up. Since this is the group's first mission, this will be known as Case One. You're designated 'Sailor' for this mission since we're not sure what number we'll use for you. It'll be used once we decide priorities for everyone in the group._ "

"And what's your designation?"

" _Just designate me HQ._ "

"Roger." And Eli gasped, a little surprised about her response.

" _Oh, and don't worry about your sudden response. It's your instinct talking._ "

"I... see." Eli then saw the platform under her exhibiting particles of light around her. "What's happening?"

" _You'll be going through hyperspeed using a series of photon particles, and it'll cover your body chemistry quite well to prevent you from getting sickness._ "

"Alright."

" _You seem confident in this._ "

Eli sighed at what Melusine meant. "I think I just want to get through it."

" _Roger. Commencing teleportation now. We'll all be travelling back in time together with you, so we'll be in touch with you whenever you reach the ground. Time will be frozen first, so don't worry. T-minus 30 seconds. Good luck._ " Melusine's last words got Eli to be ready as she clenched her fists tighter.

 _I'll finally be able to redeem myself, from all those years... as a Cosmos Sailor._

" _ **Ericchi.**_ " Nozomi called out to Eli. "Don't think too much. You'll be fine."

Eli looked at Nozomi while she blushed a little. "I know." After her final reply, Nozomi stepped back to the girls who are about to see Eli transported from the platform.

Nico then went beside Nozomi. "Pssst. Think she'll be fine?"

Nozomi glanced towards Nico. "I determined how she'd do on her journey back in time, but as for her present situation... that's... It's undetermined."

"Say what?"

"Know what though? I believe in her, even beyond my cards, Nico. You should too." Nozomi's reply came before glancing back at Eli, now surrounded by more photons in her platform area.

" _ **Wait for me!**_ " Eli shouted out, now about to experience long distance teleportation.

" _HQ here. Designation, and status._ "

"Roger. Designation: Sailor. TELEPORT: COMMENCE!" Eli's shout was accompanied by a furious movement of lights from the platform up until she was surrounded by those lights... before a big spark came from the platform, and she was gone...

 _Unlike my other adventures, this tops the rest unlike from the past ones I've had. The true test of how I'd handle the outside world has only just begun. Wait for my return... Nozomi._

" _ **Prepping for Case 1 – Chapter 3"**_

* * *

 _ **EPILOGUE...**_

 _ **Meanwhile... Outside the Multi-Verse chambers...**_

Sayuri was walking the hallway with a woman having blue hair extending to her lower back, with yellow eyes. The woman was wearing a blue overall space uniform.

Sayuri then looked at the woman just walking the hallway without a spared glance. "Could you be very silent at this time?"

" _ **I'm not obliged to answer anything, goddess.**_ "

"We're fellow goddesses, Aionara. We're supposed to work together."

"Together? Would I want to work with someone's problem landing in MY Multi-Verse then? And even our Elder God can't do a damn thing about it unless we fix this ourselves."

"Don't take it up with the Elder God. There's only so much power they could exhibit. After all, they manage a bigger part of our omniverse..."

"...while we micro-manage. I understand."

"Can't we get along?" After Sayuri asked, Aionara stopped walking, and Sayuri stopped a little later.

"Get along? Do you want to listen to yourself, woman? I just discovered a seed of your so-called 'Shadows' completely overturn and influence ONE of the former council members to go after a certain power source that's so critical to his agenda. If he succeeds at this, he'll continue to get more in my assigned multi-verse BEFORE I'll be able to stop it. And you know the law of the primordial goddess right now: We cannot intervene unless we have an asset, and I simply, don't... have the time. And I cannot intervene by going back to the past either, unless an immediate threat to destroy the multi-verse is discovered. It's the same with you. And you know what calls him clever and me calling myself unable to do anything? BEING HELPLESS."

"Fate doesn't simply let a single man or boy for that matter ever let the multi-verse of yours fall into destruction."

"But we are talking about the fabric of time here! If he messes it up continuously, it will be too late for me to see it, and the multi-verse I call my own will be destroyed. And soon, others will follow thanks to the torn-up fabric of time. We'll all be going to hell... one way, or another." Aionara then turns her head away from Sayuri. "Why am I even talking to you about this? It's not like you could intervene by lending me assistance."

"True. But what about some support... at least little by little."

"You think that will change anything? I won't let up on my own problem, but receiving some asset from you might not change the problem at hand."

"You're wrong. At least one person from my multi-verse could be enough."

"But what do you expect out of that... from me?"

"Nothing... Aionara. You know I'm generous enough to keep trying on helping out."

"And that'll be something reckless if you keep continuing." Aionara smirked, glancing back at Sayuri. "What's your aim?"

"Coordination."

"Absolutely not. You'll be messing up events there, and it will not be the same."

"I told you: One asset, will make a difference, and YOU will simply see the effect of it in a good way. ONE asset... is... enough. Do you hear me, Aionara? Allow me... to try helping. Please." Sayuri made those words clear to Aionara.

But even the troubled goddess is still doubting Sayuri's words for it. ' _If I receive her asset, it'll mean I'm being dependent._ ' "If I do this, you'll need to encourage that asset to try putting him down as well."

"Deal. But it must be put as a delicate situation. Like I said: We need to coordinate with each other for this plan to work."

"How will you start it then?"

"We'll need to put a part of your species together with mine. My specialty is light evolution for people who are high enough a level to transcend to being an evolved human. But for that to work, and for that person to completely be used to your multi-verse, you'll need to give the person a part of the DNA your multi-verse has."

"Light and dark magic?!" Aionara was shocked of this. "Are you kidding?! What would that do to an asset of your own?!"

"Don't you see? The asset can be partly yours too. I'm giving us both the benefit to take on your problem. You allow me to help, and it means we should work together. The result is something of both our creation."

"That'll make..." Aionara paused, knowing this would mean fusing their creations into one. "We'll make an asset together then. Is that it?"

"Yes... and it'll be the first to cross multi-verses on its own."

"It's dangerous, Sayuri."

"But it's the only chance we have, Aionara."

"Alright... I'll consider it." Aionara answers this and Sayuri smiles.

"Thank you. We can't time-skip this time. We'll need to be patient and do this thing to help you."

"Thank you... Sayuri."

"There's nothing I can't do, if nothing's impossible." Sayuri then continued walking the hallway. "Now come on. We got work to do!"

Aionara knew it'll be a long process, as her thoughts played on the possible scenarios that may happen when they start making their creation together. ' _I need to make sure the right personality is put in that asset, as long as she agrees._ ' She thought before walking with Sayuri. "Let's make this well-done, Sayuri."

"Indeed, we'll make it so." Sayuri concluded before they both made sparks at the end of the hallway letting them disappear afterwards.

* * *

 _ **Next on The Nine Stars: Cosmos Sailors – Case One: Tracking the Culprit**_

 _ **END...**_

* * *

 **MINA! It's nice to see you all reading and supporting this Love Live fanfict so far.**

 **Just to very much make clear: Aionara is actually a major support character in my universe, which has the stories Sky Dreadnought: Flight Alpha and TF-16 Recon-Assault. Both of these entries are part of the Strike Witches universe I made, and I wish that you check out those stories as well!**

 **Anyway... Eli's gone to UNIVERSE 12! PM me for any ideas on what should be on the next chapter or leave reviews here! For the rest of the time while I'm busy with my bookkeeping side-job... please tune-in to my two mentioned Strike Witches fanficts. I'm making a certain universe tied with two great authors of Strike Witches fanficts, and I'm dedicating it all to them. MUHAHAHA :D :D**

 **Stay safe. Enjoy... and a happy happy happy happy birthday to me. I just turned 23 last January 13! I'm getting TOO OLD! Huhu... :(**


	5. Case One: Tracking the Culprit (part 1)

**Okay… so here I have Chapter 4! I know, I know, I need to give out the Original Character Details for each character. And I'm only gonna do so for the characters who currently have updated their magic. And in this case… Eli's the first! More will come! MUHAHAHA :D :D**

 **Anyway… something to clear up: The Multi-Verse they belong to is named "Ambrogio." The original members of μ's all lived in a single planet called Earth, in the Milky Way Galaxy, of Universe 6. There are 20 universes in one Multi-Verse, and 100 galaxies in one universe, according to my standards this time.**

 **You'll be seeing quite more wonders on this chapter and onwards. Also… if you guys are interested, and more for other authors who are interested in my story, check out the poll on my profile page. It's only valid until mid-February 2016. So if you can, answer the poll. I kinda look forward for stories to updated, even slow, with a very big anticipation to it!**

 **Oh yeah… check my profile each time too. I'm gonna be posting enjoyable AudioSurf sessions on YouTube soon! The account name I'll be using for my channel is EliteLenny, since I like using my AudioSurf's account name here. ;)**

 **Check out my crossover "Wing-Mates." It's a crossover story for one other story in my profile called "Sky-Dreadnought," a story based from the original manga/anime series 'Strike Witches.' That's right… I like to continue my LoveLive-Strike Witches crossover as a part of my multi-verse adventure thing! And oh… A character debut from one of my other collaborating authors would also put up a few or several cameo appearances in this story, since Multi-Verses theory would be next to Inter-Dimensional travel, which is much more complicated. For now, I'll use the Multi-Verses theory for my stories.**

 **Anyway, enjoy the story already! Leave a review or PM me for ideas.**

* * *

 _ **Cosmos Sailors' HQ... Time-suspended because of Time-Distortion Alert...**_

"Okay." Melusine muttered while standing up from her seat in front of the terminal. "Designation Sailor has been transported. All of you be ready! The HQ will begin inter-universe and time travel in one minute!" And immediately, she got to typing furiously again.

Honoka was looking intently at the working cosmic fairy while Kotori seemed to be nervous of it.

"Honoka-chan... I'm feeling a bit off."

"Eh?"

"What if Eli doesn't return?"

"She'll come back. She knows she will, and she'll be making sure of it."

" _ **We have to trust her.**_ " Umi spoke out to the two. "She's not only physically ready but you can be sure she's got a background check of various cultures around the world thanks to her status. I heard she had been making a tour around, and England is just one of the countries she went to."

"I see," Honoka replied softly.

"Nonetheless, she still has to be careful. At whatever time, there's always danger. I hope she's ready for that."

" _ **She is.**_ " Nozomi replied it to Umi. "Ericchi has it in her to be cautious at whatever situation. If not cautious, she's just being careful before she does anything."

"That's good enough."

"Eli should make it." Honoka answered for what they believe in. "She has to."

Melusine stopped typing and nodded. "Alright, everything's set. Ladies, it looks like we're gonna be getting there sooner! T-Minus 15 seconds!"

Nico clenched her fist. "Good luck... Ayase."

"Rin-chan...?" Hanayo called out to Rin beside her. "Eli will be okay, right?"

"Sure thing, Kayo-chin! I believe that too!"

"She better be alright." Maki muttered to herself. "Otherwise, we'll just be crying our hearts out again."

Melusine was gonna say it. "Time and inter-universe travel in 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... Engaging travel... NOW!" Soon, the terminal's screens went white before black before it shows travelling lights toward them. The whole HQ shook at this. "Alright, we're on our way there. During the travel, we'll be in contact with Eli now. Sailor, this is HQ, do you read?!"

 _ **Inter-universe and Time-Jump Warp-space...**_

Eli has no fear as she was flying forward through Warp-space. Her helmet was on since no air could be present in space or even in Warp-space for that matter.

" _Sailor, this is HQ! Do you read?_ " Melusine's voice was heard through Eli's internal comms system.

"Sailor here. We're really on our way there?"

" _Affirmative. We're right behind you._ " Melusine's words convinced Eli, just before the cosmos sailor turns around and sees some sort of a shooting star from behind her.

"A shooting star is behind me."

" _That's us. We're actually inside a ship, so you're taking the lead._ "

"A space ship?"

" _There's more to the ship, but you can call that too. Anyway... We're almost to Universe 12. Do you remember what we talked about?_ "

"Hm..."

 _ **FLASHBACK...**_

"Alright... this Time-Distortion Alert is based on the year 1892 in Ambrogio Universe 12, in the Hyura galactic system. Earth is the name of the planet, like what you guys call yours. Anyway... The situation is this: The specific date is the 17th of July, in a simple town called Islesworth near Cambridge. What I saw there from the actual detection of the Shadow's energy source, is a murder of a sweets shop owner.

"The name of the shop owner is Dean Grace... an old guy, but a good guy nonetheless. However, his past was actually related to smuggling forbidden firearms into cities even before he just gave himself cover as a sweets shop owner. We can't really tell who the murderer is, except that he left the shop after visiting Grace for something."

Eli took notice of the motive. "It must have been for picking something up."

"It actually is." Melusine replied. "Eli... since you're the one who's going to do this: Your first objective is to investigate the sweets shop itself. They'll be updated depending on what you find there. Actually... it won't be a short walk at all. I doubt it."

 _ **End of Flashback...**_

"I remember. Once I get to Islesworth, I'll get to sweets shop, promptly enter it, and investigate."

" _That's right. At least you know. Alright, we're entering Universe 12... Right now! Time-jump is successful, so we'll just have to get you there!_ " After Melusine said it, Eli saw the universe the different galaxies were in. She entered one of those galaxies.

"It looks like I'm entering the galaxy." Eli said this while her helmet had activated its heads-up display. It showed the information of the galaxy. "Hyura Galactic System."

" _That's right._ "

Eventually, Eli got in Hyura Galactic System and finally saw the main solar system there. "I'm approaching the solar system and I'm slowing down just for the right travel speed. Earth will be visible in about a few minutes."

 _ **Back in the Cosmos Sailors' HQ...**_

Melusine was observing the situation. "We're in the right time right now, and it's already 1892 in this universe's Earth. And, it's nighttime in Islesworth and now raining, Sailor."

" _Understood. Is there any way to land? So much speed is generated from me._ "

"There's something you should take as a tip: You can do inter-stellar space travel with ease since speed is not an issue, but remember that it's always different when you get in a planet. Remember: Gravitational forces and atmospheric differences always apply, so be careful."

" _I understand. Gravity needs to be adapted to, and I should be careful about considering a planet with or without air._ "

"Of course. Plus... there's a convenient way to travel while you're in a planet anyway. You'll know what I mean a little later on." At this, she smiled, excited for what Eli's gonna be doing next...

 _ **In space... Approaching Earth...**_

"Earth is visible right now and I'm nearing it!"

" _Roger. The ship will be on standby just out of the planet. Begin your descent and roll with your feet facing the planet. Your battle dress will be sure to withstand the entry heat made due to atmospheric resistance, so you'll be fine._ "

"Acknowledged. I'm beginning my descent and angling myself now." Eli then got to stop on her speeds and let herself glide towards Earth just before she angled her lower part to face the Earth itself. And just like instinct, the dress folded itself and started to be part of her legs, not making them a problem any longer. ' _I see what she meant._ ' She thought before feeling some heat. Soon, a little orange came just outside her battle dress thanks to her speeds. "Once I reach the atmosphere, the resistance should stop. What should I do then?"

" _You'll know soon enough. You can trust me well enough, Sailor._ "

"Okay." Eli then saw the Earth finally getting bigger in her vision just before the orange light slowly disappeared as she was now passing clouds. "I'm in the atmosphere!"

" _Feel your back, Eli. By instinct, you should let your Cosmic Wings out. They'll be able to slow your descent and make you stop at just at the altitude you might expect not to be seen, so it's your choice on that._ "

"Okay... I..." Eli stopped speaking and felt her back indeed change for some reason and was surprised of it. ' _She's right! Something... Something's coming out of my back!_ ' "Okay... I'll... Uhhn..." And suddenly, light briefly shone from her back before something protruded from it. "HYAAAAA!" For the first time, Eli lets her Cosmic Wings out. The Cosmic Wings are actually like a butterfly's wing, but only transparent and has white outlines at the tips to signify it belongs to a Cosmos Sailor.

 _ **Cosmos Sailors' HQ...**_

The girl's gasped at the view they received from the magnified camera view, and Honoka was the first to react: "Sugoi! She's got wings!"

Melusine chuckled at it. "You girls also have this, but it's best you girls experience high speeds first before your first wing protrusion. Otherwise, it'll hurt and the pain won't be suppressed. There are no shortcuts here, so you'll have to get used to it."

 _ **Atmosphere... Altitude: 8742 metres and dropping... Night side of the Earth...**_

Eli spreads her Cosmic Wings. "I'm slowing down. Actually, better... I'll hover." Eli did as what her mind was focused on and she let her wings flap once before she slowed down and finally halted. "I stopped at 7300 meters above ground..." She let her helmet fold and it included the glass, which folded with the helmet to her back before it dissipated. She looked around and saw the land below. "I'm right on top of Islesworth. It seems I made it in time."

" _You sure have your head wrapped around quite well in this. Well, it's natural. A Cosmos Sailor knows, flight is almost everything to them. But different modes of transport should be used too, for their safety._ "

"Okay. But I can't just land in Islesworth. People will see me coming."

" _It's simple. The Battle Dress has also an equipped Camouflage Mode, and your whole body can be virtually invisible. Tiny reflections of the environment used by microdot cameras simulate the place and..._ "

'I don't like long explanations. By your meaning of reflections, I can't make too much movement, even if I'm invisible. That said, I'm just one percent away from being completely invisible but they could still see time-difference figures whenever I travel, if I'm too close to them."

" _But that's different if you're in a distance from the person who's in concern with you. So flying in while in Camouflage Mode is no problem. Just find a suitable place to land, and one without people, of course. And... Camouflage Mode uses your stamina, so try find something to eat after... Oh, wait a minute... You got a snack with you. Just browse through your pocket dimensions for it. It's easy._ "

"I understand. I can manage for the meantime."

" _That's good. Now activate Camouflage Mode. You need to get to Islesworth anyway. First, fly down, then your inner functions, activated by your Mind Control can get your Battle Dress to do as you request it. Good luck on your arrival there!_ " Melusine cuts the transmission and Eli might be on her own for a while.

Eli took a deep breath before angling herself down, letting gravity get her upper body angle down, and spreading her wings to level with the altitude. "Okay... This is where it's gonna happen. Activate Camouflage Mode." And with her words, her body slowly faded from existence, until only a very very thin outline of her shape was seen, since she's able to see it as a user of the Battle Dress. ' _Wow... so I can see through my hands? Nice. Okay, now to find a good place to land. Ah..._ ' She sees a spot where carriages are being parked in squared spots. Horses have feeders below them so they'll be eating or drinking while the carriage is behind them. ' _That's a good spot. I'll try there. Plus, the darkness would help out as well._ ' And with that, she banked towards the direction of the square carriage parking spot before she was over it and hovered, then descended down just beside the carriages and out of sight from other people. And finally, she reaches the ground feet first. With her instinct, her wings returned inside her. ' _Wow... So I can manage it well with my wings._ ' "Okay." She muttered before deactivating Camouflage Mode, then stuck to the corner of a carriage before peeking her head out. She saw civilians travelling in the night. Some of them were in rags while others were in standard dresses. "HQ... Am I going to stand out?"

" _HQ Responding. Sailor, you will definitely stand out for a bit. The Battle Dress is actually themed for a ball but you'll easily move around it thanks to my design and structuring. But still, it's better you have a disguise._ "

And Eli saw what a possible disguise she could take: The feeding man for the horses was wearing overalls while wearing a round hat on his head. He was seen observing the horses and even helping them eat and drink from the feeders.

"And that's it." Eli observed the feeding man quite well before her eyes glowed white. She was seeing figures related to the size of the clothing, and she was seeing even the materials like a computerized way. ' _Wow. Alright. I should be able to apply it in me._ ' Her eyes stopped glowing before she hid behind her carriage before she concentrated. Soon, she felt a continuous to brief glow of her glow until from top to bottom, her clothes transformed, and it was quite identical to what the man was wearing. She noticed her hair was tied up beneath her hat. "Oh. So it's to really match how I look."

" _Nice. By that, you can now roam around. But it's better if you change your outfit with another while you walk towards the sweets shop, so you wouldn't look too conspicuous. Try a neighbourhood police officer when you see one. If you see an opportunity and when no one's looking, copy his outfit so you'll be able to roam around more freely and even gain access to restricted areas too. It's a good cover, you know._ "

"It'll just make me feel like espionage is a must."

" _Not necessarily. It's only if you're really looking around, Sailor. Now... Get through town, and while on your way, find a cop's outfit to copy and apply it to yourself._ "

"Okay then, I'll get going!" And with no hesitation, Eli started to walk...

 _ **Back in the Cosmos Sailors' HQ...**_

The girls were all seated in front of the monitor and Melusine was standing in front of them. "Ladies, there's no need for all of you to be here at the same time. There are a lot of activities you can do here anyway."

Umi sighed. "We know... but we're just nervous of what's happening that we just can't stop trying to peel our eyes off what's important."

"Umi-chan..." Honoka called out. "There's no need to worry about this unless she needs help. Maybe we won't be able to hear from her for a little while, but at least she's in good hands as far as we know."

"Are you sure, Honoka?"

"I'm sure. We all believe in Eli, so we should take it easy for the meantime."

"Well, if that's what you prefer, but someone needs to be here by shift."

"Then why don't you go first? Then Kotori would be next. We'll take turns."

"Really? I'd be willing to go first. Nobody else should be too concerned, I guess."

"Arigatou, Umi-chan. Mina! (Everyone!) We'll be taking shifts here! So for anyone who wants to be around the place to look around, you can look around. Umi-chan will be watching on the monitor for the news!"

The rest of the girls spread out except for Umi, who was watching intently at the monitor. But instead of staying seated, she approached Melusine. "Any changes for now?"

Melusine looked from the monitor to the concerned Cosmos Sailor. "For now, Eli was able to get around Islesworth and finally found a police uniform. She just applied it to herself."

"I have to ask: How do you 'apply' on anything you could possibly wear?"

"Huh? Didn't you learn a little when you watched her change her clothes from Magnified View?"

"I did, but I just need to know the process."

"Well, it's pretty simple. Come with me." Melusine then walked and Umi followed before she snapped a finger. Eventually, a pink dress appeared from glitters of magic energy in front of them. "This is a sample attire you can use. Now... I want you to focus your sight on this. Don't be afraid, but your eyes will glow white thanks to this. Once that happens, you'll get good information on the shape of the attire, its most probable materials, and of course the sizes. You can configure them as you wear them."

"Okay, I'll try." Umi then looked intently at the pink dress before her eyes glowed white as Melusine said. "Well... I'm getting the shape, material, and even its size too." And she was seeing all of that through a computerized display from her eyes. "Amazing..."

"Now... the attire you captured should be added do your database for your own use. Try to apply it. Focus your mind on it, and it'll happen." Melusine instructed this to Umi before the cosmos sailor concentrated. Eventually, she was seen with her attire glowing and her outfit changing. From top to bottom, magic energy changed Umi's attire to that of the pink dress that's in front of her. The magic energy finally reached to the shoes that compliments the dress until it was finally done. "Now you're wearing the exact same one. This can also be applied with any kind of clothing you'd be able to see out there and actually imitate them. But we also have our own preset of clothes to tell you the truth. Excluding the capturing process, imitating those presets of clothes is done by looking for one first, then applying them to you."

"This will be quite useful."

"It is VERY useful, Ms. Sonoda. Remember that your identity is also being kept safe. At any universe, there MIGHT always be another person like you, so don't push the high-profile status, okay?"

"Did you tell Honoka that yourself?"

"Not yet. But I'm sure she'll understand if you tell her yourself after your shift. However, knowing she doesn't know, we can't send her through time or any universes just yet."

"I understand. Thanks for telling me this. They need to know about it for themselves too."

"Then I'm glad we're helping out each other then!"

 _ **It started raining and the thunder was heard from afar…**_

It was getting late and almost no one was left on the streets except some policemen patrolling the area. The quiet and dim sight of the sweets shop at one corner of town had dim lights. One policeman came by and saw this. With that, the policeman's curiosity was accompanied by willingness to enter the shop.

The door gently opened to a dimly lit interior with a wooden and clean floor, a short desk nearby and shelves of chocolates and candies on the wall. The policeman takes off the hat, only to reveal blonde hair finally loosen up from what she was disguised in.

Eli had a look around the shop, knowing it was clean almost anywhere she inspects, but not until she started walking and noticed a drop of red liquid on the floor. She stopped walking just in front of the liquid drop as she knelt to take a close look. Reaching out to it, she lets her finger wipe on the floor with the red drop now on her. She brings the sample close to her to examine it herself and found out something thanks to her life experiences: It was blood. ' _So this is blood, but whose blood?_ '

A short tone played before someone contacted Eli, described as a female teen's voice with a German accent. " _Sailor, what do you have?_ "

Eli looked at the drip of blood on her finger. "There's no doubt of it. Someone was hurt or killed in the shop."

" _Damn it… So it really happened. Keep taking a look around. If Dean Grace's body is around, you're gonna have to photograph the body for us to analyze things. Your eyes, synced with your Battle Dress will do just that if you will the ability to. First… look for Dean Grace's body. Think you can handle it?_ "

"I can handle more what I have bargained for in my life, and that includes seeing a dead body, even a very bloody one too, Melusine. I'll keep an open channel." Eli then cuts transmission before she stood up and proceeded to look around further. She saw more shelves of sweets at the walls. ' _I wonder if they have factories in this Earth now that they're making sweets? Dean Grace is quite the man to have a cover like this. But considering he was a firearms smuggler in his day, I guess I'm going to say this world is on its way to a higher technological advance by the looks of things. And crime types advances, with no exception at the same time._ ' Her thoughts ran short when she stopped by the counter and her eyes widened at the sight of the side. ' _Oh crap!_ ' Her thought was synced with the images of her sight picturing blood on the side of the counter before she walked further and finally saw what she was looking for: A body was lying on the floor and unmoving. The body belonged to a male. His forehead was visible to have been bloodied. And as Eli walked closer, she observed the age of the man, and he has quite the age to be in his forties or more.

As she knelt to examine him, she noticed the man's eyes were still open.

' _Poor man…_ ' Eli frowned while thinking of it before the same short tone played on her ear for Melusine again. "HQ… I found his body. His forehead… clean from there, I think the weapon might have been a blade. Blood's coming out from the rear of his head."

" _That's because it IS a blade that killed. You're able to see the blood from behind his head, right? The blade pierced right through his brain._ "

"Capturing this already? I got my eyes to sync with the Battle Dress now."

" _I'm seeing a live broadcast, which is quite better. We'll be able to examine the body that way. Keep looking at spots on the body. Move him around too to see a little more, but wear gloves for it, then report back to HQ. Oh, and while you're at it, browse from your pocket dimension and find a sample test tube. Get the blood that you got earlier, and the blood of the victim. That'll be two sample tubes now._ "

"Roger. I have enough for both samples." Eli replied before she let her eyes glow, letting her vision be brightened a little since it's a bit dark on that part. ' _The murderer did his job right by letting the victim be at the darker side of the shop. Well done… I can't believe you just did it to him here. Smart… and I might need to be careful since he is. It makes him more dangerous._ ' She observed different parts of his body. Then she stopped to look at his hand. For this, she browsed her pockets and found two synthetic gloves before she wore them. She lifted his hand and examined it herself. ' _The hand seems to have gone for effort in its years. In smuggling, firearms are most of the time assembled, and I bet HE does the assembly of either simple or complex ones._ '

 _ **Fast Forward…**_

 _ **Back in Cosmos Sailors' HQ…**_

With Eli, in her Battle Dress original appearance, now back in HQ for the meantime, she was standing near Umi while they both looked at the terminal's monitor, with Melusine already looking at different parts of the corpse found in the sweets shop.

"Okay… This works." Melusine muttered it to herself.

Eli then whispered to Umi. "What do you think she's thinking about?"

"Beats me." Umi replied with a whisper to Eli. "After all, she knows more of this than we do."

"It's not necessarily like that, since I have a little background on this."

Eventually, a short-haired redhead approached the two and looked at the terminal herself. "Sugoi…"

Eli looked at the curious RIn with eyes wide. "What are you amazed of? That's the a dead body you're seeing there."

"Oh, think I don't know that? Did I mention I was a squad leader in the police back in the day? I've seen dead bodies, made dead bodies…"

"…and became one yourself," Umi replied briefly.

"YOU JUST KILLED THE MOOD HERE!" Rin pouted like a flash before glancing back at Eli. "So don't worry about me throwing up."

"I didn't mention you'd throw up." Eli then glanced at Umi after replying. "I think she would say it."

"Eh?" Rin then glared at Umi. "Don't mention it yourself, Umi, or we'll have quite a problem." Rin ended with an innocent grin. Umi glanced away, ignoring Rin's remark instead of making trouble. ' _Something tells me she'll do it again._ '

Eli decided to approach Melusine and ask about the case. She sees Melusine looking at the photos in a slow-interval slideshow. The video repeated itself as it played at one side of the monitor.

"Melusine?" Eli called out to the cosmic fairy, who then turned her head to concerned Russian.

"Something's definitely not right with this. I know it's a murder, but the blood sample you gave me somehow didn't make sense." Melusine then shows her hand before a sample test tube appeared hovering through magic energy before she held it. It contained red-colored liquid. "The blood that you extracted from the body for me, is the same with the one on the floor, but the one on the floor had more shadow energy for some reason, since the murderer omitted it himself."

"Okay. Will that mean anything?"

"No. Actually, it's the blood that's in this sample test tube that intrigued me. When I analyzed it, I found sources of the shadow energy already embedded in the blood."

"What? That's Dean's blood, right?"

"Exactly. It bothered me for a while. A dead old man in the shop has blood of a Shadow and it was naturalized in him too. There are possibilities: The old man already has the blood of the Shadow from the start, or the blade itself could make a person manifest a Shadow spirit, the basic form of the Shadow, which is the reason why the old man now has naturalized blood coming from one. We won't know for sure until we find the weapon used. So… I want you to get back over there and work this all out."

"Time is stopped again, right?"

"It is. For a weapon to be used, it's obviously a sharp metallic one. The murderer could have one easily made."

"Do you mean a dagger?"

"Yeah. The size of the hole itself on his forehead suggest he was holding a dagger. We won't know what kind of dagger it is, but I doubt it's something of value that I know of now. You could look over the database of daggers with Shadow energy that we know of if you like."

"Please." Eli then saw Melusine's free hand offered to her, before she took it. Their eyes briefly glowed white before it faded. "Okay, I got it. Three kinds are in there. One of them matches that it not only uses Shadow energy to inflict damage to the target, but as well as poison the target for the spirit to be replaced with a Shadow spirit."

"Exactly… a direct Shadow manifestation, if the Shadow energy isn't removed. It also applies even if the target is dead, only… life would be impossible. The blood of the Shadow still stays though." Melusine's explanation was accompanied with another pair of eyes, and she noticed Rin's pair was the closest. "Interested in the blood sample?"

"Hm…" Rin saw this for herself. "I would always search the crime scene for more materials, just in case."

"You've done your work from the police work quite well, Rin." Melusine's remark on Rin, made the girl leave a thumbs-up and a proud grin at her. "Don't get too carried away now."

"Hehehe!" Rin chuckled at it.

Umi groaned while approaching them. "Looks like there's still more to do."

"Indeed," Eli replied while she walked away from them. "I'll be talking to Nozomi for a while."

Rin looked at Melusine. "Did you notice Eli's kinda serious on this? Wow. I can't believe a dead body could make her a sleuth and a serious one at it!"

"Tch." Umi snickers. "I bet you did a lot of snooping around back in your day. That could have been a reason for a death, you know."

"What…? I wasn't snooping around! Well, I was, for a little. It's actually related to a high-ranking syndicate we've been looking for in Tokyo. I bet they caught wind of our op and could have been the reason for that freak ambush. Got me killed, but I did my part anyway. At least my snooping was healthy! I don't regret it!"

"Great. Now I'm seeing a suicidal chick."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" And it started as Rin growled when she approached, before Melusine stopped her.

"Hoshizora, not a good place!" Melusine says with an uneasy smile. "You'd be obliged to take it to the ring if you have problems."

"I wanna kill her! I wanna, I wanna, I wanna!"

"Now, now… You'll get your chance, but calm down, silly!" Melusine advised it to Rin, not knowing Umi was already irritated and just walked away from it.

' _Didn't she mature on her way to her death anyway?_ ' Umi thought while walking to Honoka and Kotori, now reading a magazine. But she's surprised of what it was: A magazine about school idols. "Eh… Guys, do you both have to get a copy of that?"

Honoka smirked at Umi who just arrived. "Umi-san, you think it's not a good idea? I remembered I was the one who suggested in making the group in the first place, and it got me interested in other idol groups too. I may be past my prime, but I'm still looking forward to future idol groups bringing colors to schools and different parts of Japan. If not… it could be around the world. I mean… there are a lot of them in universes we haven't even seen yet, or even galaxies!"

"Don't get too ahead of yourself, Honoka-chan." Kotori advised it before looking at Umi. "Umi-chan, I noticed the HQ is letting time pass." And with this, Umi nodded. "Why?"

"Melusine believes she can monitor other detections of Shadow energy from around the world, and so far, Islesworth Town was the last source. She still needs to get another detection so we'd investigate it. We found a weapon theory for ourselves too. Seems Grace was stabbed through the forehead but the effect left his blood to be naturalized with Shadow energy."

"Eh? Wait… How can blood be naturalized with energy like that?"

"She said it's possible because of the weapon, but then again, we didn't ignore the fact the man may have that blood from the start. We won't be able to determine it any further unless we get a detailed examination of the body, but we can't. Paradoxes might happen."

"Eh…?" Honoka replied, half-lidded. "Umi-chan, you watch too many movies."

"Wait, what?! Isn't that true?!"

"Ever since television and computers were introduced to you, you felt you wanted to explore a lot with the Internet. Now, you're a crazy talker."

"I'm just thinking of things that come to my head could help, okay?! Oh, come on! Can't crazy ideas be of some help? You don't believe in paradoxes and it could come true!"

"Heehee…" Kotori giggled a little. "You're funny, Umi-chan."

"Oh, come on… Am I the only one who's thinking this way?!"

" _ **I am too.**_ " And the three stopped their smiles when they saw the same angry Rin now grinning at Umi. "So where were we on our match?"

Umi glanced at Rin, then away again. "Fine. But you'll be sorry if I break your arm."

"Don't you mean you'll be, since I'll do it first? Come on." Rin then walked towards the fighting ring, now with Umi coming along.

Kotori looked at the two now getting to the ring, and then glanced at Honoka still watching the distant figures. "Honoka-chan."

"Hm?" Honoka's attention was on Kotori.

"I noticed everyone's bravery really upped a notch or two ever since we were working together."

"Well, everyone lived their lives, so I don't think it'll be a problem if every one of us gets a little serious. I mean… I was serious each time I had to deal with a roadblock."

"And I remember you were pushing yourself back then."

"Oh… That time before I collapsed, you mean? I'm only doing my best for the group and for myself, perhaps. Then there's another time I had to run in the rain when I was in my thirties."

"I tried stopping you from getting there just because I was thinking you were crazy. It was only a report."

"But that report was the only thing needed to prevent the abrupt closure of one dream I know from then." Honoka smiled at Kotori. "Thanks for your concern back then. I wasn't angry at you."

"Oh. I know. We talked about it after you collapsed… again. But…" Kotori smiled like Honoka and hugged her. "I'm glad you were safe."

"Oh, Kotori." Honoka whispered while hearing Hanayo's cheers, and Rin and Umi's moans in pain as they took each other on the ring.

Rin yelped in pain as she was forced to kneel while her arm was in a hold from Umi in the fighting ring.

"Grrr… Umi!"

"What's wrong? Can't do it better like I could? Who's the civilian now? Not all cops are better in fighting."

"And it's still the case!" Rin pushed her forward and pulled it back, letting the rear of her head hit Umi's face, letting the other girl finally let go of her before she started running, reached the corner in no time at all and ran at Umi who seems slow to react and let a fist out before Umi was hit.

Hanayo was shocked at that. "W-What the…?! That was fast!"

Umi was on the defensive as she saw Rin now at a distance. ' _Wait a minute… That speed…!_ '

Rin then made no delay as she ran for Umi, feeling like she's lighter than a feather. ' _I don't know, but I'm feeling light here. It's amazing! What is this feeling?!_ ' "GRRRRAAA!" She jumped and made a spun-kick move and it hits Umi's middle before the two clashed at normal speed. Umi was cornered, and Rin smirked before letting the world slow down before she put both fists out and started giving hooks to Umi at her torso. Umi was so slow that time, and Rin felt like she's definitely faster. ' _Okay, this is a little too fast for her, but I don't care! I love it!_ '

Hanayo couldn't believe what she saw, next to her hearing a chain-gun of punches from Rin to Umi's torso before giving one last hook to Umi's chin, sending the girl in the air. "UMI-CHAN!" She knows Umi was unconscious in mid-air. As soon as Umi's gravity took over, in Hanayo's relief, she was caught from there before Rin touched the ground feet first with Umi carried in her arms. Hanayo noticed the other girls at different sides of the ring, now shocked thanks to Rin and Umi's match. ' _Rin is clearly damn fast. Wow… what is that?_ '

Rin gently puts down Umi, who's clearly out cold. And she knelt, feeling regret. ' _Oh no… I think I might have done a bit too much._ '

"Gangway!" Nozomi went in the fighting ring first with Eli, Honoka, Kotori and Melusine behind her. Nozomi immediately went beside the unconscious Umi and knelt before feeling Umi's face. "Wow… She took a beating right."

"Yeah… It's my fault. That's a little too fast."

"It's not, and it's your first time too. Well, for Umi… Out cold, but I have something that could help her out. Everybody get back. You too, Rin." Nozomi's advice was taken seriously as the other girls around stepped back from her. She closed her eyes and whispered an incantation before she puts both hands over Umi's body. She opens her eyes, now emitting a purple magical glow. "I command… Heal the victim with hurt…" She muttered before her hands made a purple magical glow. The binds on her hair were removed, making her hair go loose on her. "I'm going all out now, Umi. So do me a favour and wake up already." She muttered with a smirk on her face.

"Whoa…" Rin was amazed at seeing this.

"Nozomi…" Eli's eyes were wide at what her close friend was doing.

Umi was stirring as the pain on her body was noticeable, but she felt a soft feeling over the spots where she's hurt before they slowly faded away. ' _Wow… It feels so good. What is this?_ ' She slowly opened her eyes, seeing a purple glow just dimming from around her and from Nozomi, now pulling her hands to her. She then saw the other girls, concerned of Umi. "Hm…" She moaned before sitting up and shaking her head. "Wow… That was one heck of a beating. I never knew Rin would do that."

Rin then walked over to Umi. As soon as the other girl saw her, Rin already offered a hand to her. "Care to listen?"

Umi took Rin's hand before being helped up to finally stand. "I am."

"Speed. I believe that's what I got before beating you up. Hehe…" Rin chuckled and left a grin for Umi. "Sorry! I already got this before the match!"

"Why in the hell DID YOU NOT TELL ME?!" Umi pouted shortly before Nozomi intervened.

"Now, now. Rin's not the only one who showed powers, but I did too. Actually, I had a little of it when I was still alive. To tell you, it was hard to do it. Now, I feel light on it and it's like a breeze." Nozomi's revelation got some others to gasp. "Don't get the explanation in full yet, but I was able to get magic years after we separated. Just like Eli, Rin and I now have powers. I'm sure the others will get theirs as well, especially you, Umi."

Nico walked just beside Eli, now nudging her hip. "Eli… No fair. I don't have any powers yet. The two of you senior girls got it, but I'm the only senior girl who didn't get any yet."

"Hehe…" Eli chuckled. "You'll have to be patient on that, Nico. I'm sure yours will come soon."

"You're just assuring me, but I sure I won't get it too soon." Nico sighed, not really thinking of something positive for the meantime.

" _ **Everyone.**_ " Melusine got the attention of the girls. "Magic manifestation will take time for all of you. So, if you have any magic in you that you know you can do, try finding it in yourselves first before you all take on bigger things than yourselves. If you believe you can handle yourselves, knowing you mostly won't for the first time, let us know and we'll have something arranged for that. Understood?"

" _ **Hai.**_ " Everyone replied at the same time.

And half-lidded, Melusine glanced towards Honoka. "As the leader, you should be the one doing recommendations." And she got an embarrassed look from Honoka in reply. "It's fine, but you need to drive the team forward with some leadership in you, Honoka. It's good everyone participates."

"I'll bring myself forward more often then!" Honoka said it with conviction.

Kotori took the conviction as something of a change might have seen from back then. ' _I'm glad she's showing that conviction from then. There's no doubt she won't turn back from that and I know her that I'd take her word for it._ '

"Good to know, Honoka." Melusine replied from Honoka's answer. "Alright, everyone. This is to update you all, now that we're back to business and all. The situation has changed since some of you are showing powers. Not only Eli will be participating in the mission we have here, but those who have confirmed magic manifestations here can finally get out there. That's good news for Rin and Nozomi. At anytime, they can leave HQ. And it'll be the same for the rest of you… soon."

 _ **Meanwhile… In the darkest of the Shadows' Void…**_

A pair of yellow and red eyes shone from darkness. "So…" A dark deep voice muttered. "Someone wishes to stop us. They should never succeed. I forbid it. They should kneel to my power… Soon… I shall have this multi-verse, all to myself…" And he chuckles, making the Shadows' Void vibrate… "I am the Shadow Lord… One day… They shall bow to me…" And a mean smile forms beneath the pair of eyes. His destiny lies in his actions along with his subordinates…

And his only mission is to consume the multi-verse using its darkness and the darkness of countless others. The Cosmos Sailors had only touched the tip of the iceberg. They have only begun…

 _ **\- Case One: Tracking the Culprit (part 1) –**_

 _ **TO BE CONTINUED…**_


	6. A little side story 1

**So... this chapter's mostly a side-story, and this focuses more on the two goddesses concerned in the series. To tell you guys the truth, they're gonna be more involved in this series, and my Sky Dreadnought series. As to how Aionara became a goddess in the first place, well... I'll leave it to a chapter in Sky Dreadnought, so read all about it, okay? :) You'll see updates soon.**

 **And ohohoho! The polls are tied, with two over the other two! Ohohohoho... What are the lucky winners to be updated for the next two months? Muhahahaha! :D :D**

 **On to the un-exciting non-action packed chapter (if that's what you think). Still... please read it to catch up with the story of the wide cosmos around. Enjoy!**

* * *

While the rest of the Cosmos Sailors were handling the case and carefully finding the murderous culprit with Shadow energy, the two goddesses were quite busy at the time. Earlier, Aionara said she was a having a problem in her multi-verse about a man trying to gain too much power. She already knows that in the future, he will be able to find more of that power. That multi-verse he stays in has plenty of that, and he already went through one of them.

But with one undetermined sweep, from the result of the man able to touch a completely forbidden source of power, the source itself opened up, but instead created an explosion from where it once was, and spread through the universe. The fabric of time was also torn up, since the man went through lengths just to try making this source of power his own.

And now... the two goddesses are making what's known to them, as an 'asset.' The asset is a living breathing human being, but they're carefully carving it through descendants from Multi-Verse Spokoystviye (Serenity), the one where Aionara came from, and from Multi-Verse Ambrogio (Immortal) at the same time.

It only seemed to end up that their asset is born from two parents, supposedly living in different multi-verses, as agents protecting reality from being ripped apart. After making their life only for themselves, their old life as agents caught up to them as they're being chased in their respective multi-verses. As a last resort to save their child, they had no choice but to leave the child orphaned at a parallel dimension to both multi-verses.

Aionara sighs as she was standing with her back lying on the railing of her Omniverse-view chamber, seeing the ridiculously many multi-verses Lady Chiaka made. She never forgot why she became a goddess in the first place. And it made her sigh in the fact that Chiaka gave her something to reflect about: Her own actions before she became transcended.

"Something wrong?" The voice of Sayuri got Aionara to snap out of her own thoughts. "If there is, you can always tell me."

"No. I'm... I'm fine."

"Tch. You're always denying there's something wrong for a few times, but I can always tell you're too serious. Give yourself a break, Aionara. We're half-way done on the asset thing and she's gonna be our way out of both your problem and Lady Chiaka's if this fabric of time thing will indeed be a threat to her omni-verse in whole."

"But what if the asset thing wouldn't work?" Aionara's question got Sayuri to wince in surprise. "I mean... we only did this just to make my problem go away, so it's still my fault this is happening."

"Hey. Your 'being a goddess' and making this asset to fix the problem you have are two very different things," Sayuri replied. "Besides... you have this handled."

"Well... Cheering me up helps me out, especially when we're not skipping time and all."

"We're making sure shaping the girl's life is what we do best. After all... we're making sure her life makes the best of what we can make her do. We had to make it an effort to be sure she goes right to us."

Aionara looked the other way. "Is this really the only way...?" She muttered this to herself, but she didn't know Sayuri heard it.

"Do you have another?" Sayuri asked, giving a little shock to Aionara since she was heard. "I can tell you have other plans... but you know I won't like it."

"How do you know?"

"Since I've been sensing what you think, I don't think you'd keep this a secret any longer."

"And you know what I mean?"

"Yes. I'm talking about the girl who can hack different dimensions like butter." Sayuri glared at Aionara. "I know she isn't your problem to begin with, but you have to know other gods or goddesses close to you could figure out your problems one way or another."

"And how was she your problem?"

"She wasn't."

"Wait, what?"

"It's true." Sayuri then turned her back and walked. "Walk with me, will you?" And leading Aionara, they were brought in Aionara's multi-verse chambers. Sayuri then stopped in front of the holographic table displaying Aionara's multi-verse and she pointed a finger towards a universe and its galaxy as it zoomed in to the solar system of the same galactic system. "Here."

Aionara winced at the location. "Wait a minute. You're not talking about...?"

"What is it?"

"That is the same solar system my concerned Earth is!"

"You're joking."

"I'm not. Crap..." Aionara face-palmed at her frustration. "They'll be having a smaller world, so it seems. I didn't tell you since..."

"No explanation is needed, Aionara. You didn't know all the events in the multi-verse and this inner-universe as well. You're new to it all, after all."

"I understand, and thanks."

"No problem. Like I was a saying... You didn't know."

"Sayuri, as I was thinking of it recently... This girl... I can't tell you the name yet."

"A nameless girl? I see."

"Look... Her ability to hack dimensions and plenty of parallel dimensions can help us both out, but as suggested, we should still be careful. If we don't treat this situation as something fragile, time may tear itself apart on this reality, unless Chiaka changes the omni-verse as a whole. And yes... My ass will be ripped apart."

"Watch your language..."

"I can't, okay?! Do you want me to keep letting my emotions go?! I got plenty of room for that, Sayuri! My problems will keep piling up!"

"Calm yourself." Sayuri's calm demeanour was different as she glared at Aionara's panicked eyes. "I'm not going to shout at you, but at least, give me the same manner, okay? This is something we can still handle. You're not alone here."

"Again... Thank you."

"You're most welcome, again." Sayuri giggled at it. "Now... a girl who hacks dimensions?"

"Magical energy is the cause of it, I think. There are different kinds of magic and scientific phenomena that even the complex mind can't understand. But I do. She came across this when she was at her most desperate time. She didn't manifest as a witch in the same Earth, when her twin did."

"A dominant twin."

"And unfortunately, the girl we know is the inferior one, so the other twin wins the manifestation. But thanks to that, this girl came across some kind of familiar before she would commit suicide."

"Animal familiar?"

"It seems so. The girl accepted the offer of magic to be given to her... and as I predicted, she disappeared. It was inter-dimensional travel as I reviewed it. I got this message straight to Lady Chiaka and she didn't treat this as a minor problem as well. But she's got more to manage. She doesn't care. Heck, she doesn't even know about the asset-making objective we both made to save my Multi-Verse. She entrusted it to me, and without your help, I would have gotten nowhere."

" _ **Not necessarily.**_ " A young woman's voice echoed in the multi-verse chambers before the two goddesses saw light and magic embraced upon an appearing and glowing figure. As the figure materialized, the dark-haired girl that Sayuri knows appeared in front of them. Aionara also knew this same one is actually Lady Chiaka. "You've actually done the right thing getting help." Chiaka said this first before the two surprised goddesses kneeled down on one knee each.

" _ **Lady Chiaka! How may we help you?**_ " Both goddesses greeted in respect.

"At ease. Stand up, both of you." And Chiaka saw Sayuri and Aionara get on their feet before looking at Aionara. "Ai, you should know that not everything you do is always concentrated with fixing fate itself. But at least at this step you're doing in making the asset and eliminator of your problem, you're proving to find a way to deal with your problems at the right channels."

"I'm doing whatever I can to save this multi-verse, and possibly the omniverse you made. Lady Chiaka, I won't fail you."

"Don't put all the weight to yourself, Ai. I know you asked for Sayuri's help. And since you made it a joint effort, let it be until the end."

"Wait... You're allowing this?"

"Seeing you've already started this behind my back, I know I can't stop it. It's the same with you, I would believe." Then, Chiaka glanced at Sayuri. "But Sayuri... Why did you help her?"

"Lady Chiaka, she should know as goddess that she shouldn't be afraid. Based on her, not always understanding the technicality of being a goddess would just slow things down. She wishes to change that, but I want to see her problems handle with my help. So... I thought of giving her a helping hand. I'm sorry... I thought you're not okay with this."

"Well now you know that I'm accepting this joint effort, Sayuri. The Shadows appearing in your multi-verse, and her problem of the fabric of time being ripped apart in hers, should be considered threats to the omni-verse. But as a calm Elder God, I'm only going to trust the hard work the ones in charge of the multi-verses. And that, is that. Do you understand? Make sure Ai understand this."

"Yes, Lady Chiaka." Sayuri replied at this before Chiaka glanced back at Aionara.

"You mentioned that this girl who rips through dimensions comes from your multi-verse?"

"Yes... and she comes from the same universe and Earth my problem is centralized on."

"Then your problem might be solved easier. But still... don't stop your effort in making the asset of yours and Sayuri. You need a contingency in case, and the girl who rips through dimensions is a valid one. You need all the considerable choices and at best, you should make it fair. After all... she violates the laws of time, and we're only adjusting reality imbalances on our end. She's travelling to different dimensions and leaving them unchecked, and it leaves us to clean up her mess. It's a good she's in my radar, and under it at the same time. Even I can't trace her fully."

"Wait, you're looking for her too?"

"Not me. Both of you." Chiaka made it clear to the two, who seemed rather caught off guard. "That's right. You two will be pursuing her once Ai detects space being ripped up from another dimension, again. Don't make it hard for yourselves, and me. I'll only be watching and I can't fully interfere. I might be looking for her, but you two will have to solve this problem for yourselves. And because of the situation, you two are not allowed to time-skip. Time travelling to the concerned times is allowed, but you're not allowed to change the past. You're only to route better outcomes to avoid imbalances from growing, like what is always being done. Whatever your methods are, just make sure you don't make reality and time imbalances on the way out, okay? Is this understood?"

" _ **We understand, Lady Chiaka.**_ " Both said in reply.

"That's good. I'll take my leave. And good luck. I won't be around for a while, so don't bother calling my department for some time."

"Where are you going?" Sayuri asked.

"I'm out to... visit some friends." Chiaka smiled at them. "You know my story, Sayuri. Maybe I'd tell it to Ai one day."

"I..." Aionara had to respond but felt nervous. She didn't want to pry in Chiaka's personal history. "I..."

"It's fine, Ai. I'll only tell you if you're ready to listen, but this is not the time or place for it. You two will handle your problems first, and I might consider it."

"But I thought you don't tell any personal stories of your past lives."

"That's where you're wrong." Chiaka smirked at Aionara. "You've seen my poker face, and not my real face. Just remember... Looks are deceiving. You'll learn a lot from that when everyone meets up again."

"I'll do my best to keep learning then."

"That's what I'd expect then. Until then... you two are on your own. Good luck." Chiaka concluded it before she was surrounded with cosmic energy and glowed, before disappearing in the cloud of energy.

Aionara thought of this all deeply. ' _I have a lot to do._ '

"So what's next?" Sayuri snapped Aionara out of her thoughts. "You're the one leading the case, since this girl is actually your girl."

"She's not 'my girl,' Sayuri. And besides... she could be a pain in the ass."

"There you go again with the language."

"And I want to be original with it, Sayuri. Deal with it."

"That's the way." Sayuri smirked before nodding. "I kinda like this side of you."

"Um... Thank you...?"

"Don't mention it. So... Next move?"

"Well... We have Lady Chiaka's blessing, and we can already get it started."

"Good. Because I was thinking the same thing. So... where do you should we start at?"

And with this question that Aionara processed, she looked at the holographic table and viewed the same Earth Sayuri pointed at before. "I have a pretty good place and time, and I know she'll be there. I guarantee it."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because it's only been some time since she entered my multi-verse after some time, according to her real age. She might violate a lot of rules, but I'm able to distinguish a little pattern from them."

"Let me guess... you trust your pattern?"

"Yes."

"That's a little outdated."

"I'd rather let it work for me, Sayuri. Now, are we going or not?"

"Fine, fine. Lead the way, boss."

"Well... Teehee... It has a nice ring around it."

"Don't push your luck. Tch..." Sayuri snickered afterwards.

"I wasn't. Ufufu..." Aionara giggles before she raised her hand and snapped two fingers, before the hand glowed. "To my concerned Earth... 1945."

"You're not joking, are you? Why would you be travelling there? This pattern might be outdated."

"I'd rather try, Sayuri. Trial and error."

"And you're not going to find anything there. I trust on that."

"Now you're being negative. Do you want to find her, or not?" Aionara's good question simply Sayuri sigh. "Exactly. Are you ready?"

Sayuri then raised her hand before it glowed. "Fine. Let's go." And concluding the conversation, the two of them clasped each other's glowing hands before they both glowed bright, and disappeared, leaving cosmic energy sprinkles to fall on the floor of the chambers. Their search for Aionara's dimension-ripping girl has begun...


	7. Case One: Tracking the Culprit (part 2)

**_Charlie –_** _So I'm beginning to see that others were interested in my work. Time to find out what they're out to. (chuckles)_

 ** _1892... Universe Ambrogio, Universe 12 of 20... England..._**

Isleworth Town was under the morning sun as Eli was walking casually in her commoner's attire. First thing's first on her to-do list was find any small incidences of having illegal firearms owned by anyone. Meanwhile, Rin and Nozomi were in the same attire theme as Eli, but they were tasked to get to the blacksmith of the town. He's the expert when it comes to shaping gun parts at such size, while he also makes swords, and bayonets for rifles. Rin and Nozomi however, are focused on the knife design that was possible on their matching dagger used as a murder weapon, while Eli will tackle a suitable gun that partners with a knife at close range, at Melusine's recommendation.

As Eli came to a carpentry business building, she entered it and was looking around, seeing different logging materials and humps of logs scattered around. Muscled men were just walking out from the building from her way. ' _It seems legitimate here._ '

" ** _Welcome!_** " A male British accent of a voice spoke while she saw the black haired man in his thirties. That time, he was wearing a derby hat. "My, missus... You look like you just came out now. Can I help you?"

"Ah... Have you heard of what happened to Dean Grace? The police arrived this morning at his shop."

"Aye. That old man's life shouldn't have ended like that."

"I agree."

"So why are you here asking?"

"Actually, I'm doing something for a study of mine."

"Ah... Getting educated now, are you? Hope you get in your teachers' head that a few subjects matter instead of too many. It makes my head ache, missus."

"Okay... I want to ask a different question. "Have you by chance have any idea who would have guns?"

"What kind?"

"Just pistols."

"For a lady, you got quite a taste of such weaponry. To be honest, I never encountered a young woman of such."

"Let's just say things have been developing well on my education that I decided to try something different. It'll be part of my study as well."

"Well... I can point you to a man who owns pistols. For an enthusiast like you, he'd like ya. Really. Follow me." The man said this before walking out the building before Eli followed him.

Meanwhile, Nozomi and Rin were approaching the blacksmith's shop.

"There it is, nya!" Rin said it, excited of their assignment.

"Calm down, Rin," instructed Nozomi. "First thing we should do is find the blacksmith here. He should have an idea about different parts for pistols, as well as sizes for knives."

"Ah... It's related to gun parts sizes, and probably the knives that are designed at this time. The one that was examined after the little autopsy Melusine conducted would be compared to what we find now."

"But can't it be done just by the use of Melunsine's data?"

"She just wants this done to compare the blades England produces and how effective they are, as well as the shape. If it's identical or close, then it's the dagger model we've been looking for. This is just too assure that the dagger itself is real to anyone at this world. If it turns out there's nothing from here, then we're just gonna have to hope this little problem would be removed as time passes, I guess."

"Ah, I see, nya..."

"You know, Rin... You could have interrogation skills and you could have a higher perception on details in an area. Wanna keep an eye out on places?"

"Sure thing! I was a cop."

"It's exactly why. Oh... Here it is." Nozomi then led Rin inside the blacksmith's shop. They saw men inside, dipping hot metal in water, hammering down other hot metal shaped into sharpened blades, with tips terrifyingly sharp. Nozomi took note of the sizes of the blades, since most of them were to be installed with hilts. The lengths of some would be good enough for the overall products to be swords, while some are just called blades, knives or daggers since they're shorter.

" ** _Keep at it, lads!_** " A man with a long brown beard, and looking to be in his forties was roaming around, watching the work of the others younger than him. "Harder on the pounding! Sharpen those tips! Those are knives, not dull swords from the plays! Is that all you can do?!" His shouting was stopped when he saw his two young female visitors looking around. They intrigued him and he approached the two ladies, looking to be more polite since they could be regarded as ladies of Isleworth. "Welcome of Branden's! Aren't you two too feminine to be interested in this lowly shop I got?"

Nozomi smiled at the man who was humble. "There's no need to be concerned about that. Actually, we came here since we're here for different blades you have available. We were hoping to find spare daggers. We're not buying, and just looking."

"Well I got myself a fine selection. What is it for, though? Is it for killing your husband? Or maybe killing your father? Or is this related to the man who was killed last night?" The man glared at Nozomi, seeming to understand her eye language. "I know it's pretty much related to the third one since it was a knife that killed him. Anyway... I've been browsing around, so try to look well at it. Come on." The man said, while leading the two girls to the small shop proper and to a desk. "Wait here."

Rin then whispered to Nozomi: "Nozomi, think we could trust him? Is he suspicious? He saw through us, nya..."

"Not quite, Rin. We might be interested in knives, but I don't think he suspects of bad things."

"Oh..." Rin then saw the bearded man come back with a tray of knives and daggers before placing them on the counter.

"You ladies better have a good reason why you're looking, or maybe a price for these or just one," the man said. He then looked at the two girls looking at the daggers with intrigued faces. The one with purple hair was carefully observing each one, while the other girl was scanning it. "You look to be rather young to be interested in these blades."

Nozomi then replies. "I've had fair knowledge of cutting tools and sharpened ones. My father was rather the admirer of them." She answered that to have a plausible alibi for the blacksmith boss. "Though... I was wondering if you have the throwing knives."

"Throwing knives are hard to make, and not mention the kind of material it uses. The sword doesn't match to that since since scouts and assassins come around and make sure the material's dependable and stronger than the ordinary weapon. Don't worry though. I don't know that business they have with England."

"Wait... Foreigners reside in England?"

"The French and Spanish have good relations so far. However, they have a little problem with the Scots since they're still asking for independence from England. That's what I know. England's representing for the big bridge construction happening at the Anglo-Scottish border. It'll allow mineral transfer if I got it right. They'll include trees or... I don't know. Right now, a 3 mile gorge stands in the way, but I heard they're going to be making a legitimate deal for the construction."

"Okay..." Nozomi is able to relate while looking at the blades. She then sighed a little later. "It looks like none of these catches my interest."

"W-what?" The man was surprised, as he saw an unsatisfied customer. "Wait... Are you sure? Or hasn't the blade chosen you?"

"I'm sorry, but it really isn't here. The kind I'm looking for has a longer hilt. Supposedly, it's a unique kind of design."

"Ah... I see. I'm sorry if I don't have it here then."

"It's okay. These are fine blades you have here. Many would appreciate these kinds. Whether it's served for evil or good deeds, the only thing that matters is the performance. Please... Keep it up, good sir. We'll take our leave."

"Oh... Thank you for the kind compliment. Good luck, young missus." He said this before the two left the blacksmith shop...

Rin, while leaving with Nozomi from the blacksmith shop, was somehow disappointed after finding out the blade's design doesn't fit their expected murder weapon. "Eh...? What now?"

"I guess we'll have to walk around town until Ericchi is finished with her task. Shall we?"

"Okay, nya!" Rin happily followed Nozomi, even skipping a few times past the other while they both walked the length of the town...

 ** _Wooden shooting range..._**

The Colt Single Action Army revolver's trigger was squeezed before the muzzle rang out, pushing the bullet furiously towards the glass bottle before it broke. The owner of the revolver pistol grinned while lowering his weapon, before looking at the nearby desk full of other handguns at his disposal. "You lads having fun?" He asked, looking at the direction of his other guns.

" ** _Sir?_** " A familiar man's voice rang from the behind the gun owner, letting him turn and see his carpenter friend had a guest: A young woman. "You got yourself a guest. How is it?"

"So far, it's fine, Katch. So who's the young lady?"

Eli found it offensive, but smirked. "I happen to be a gun enthusiast, mind you."

"Oh? A toughened up one, huh? So you're not afraid if one was pointed at you then?"

"Strange... I found it refreshing."

"It happened to you before?"

"It hasn't been the most friendly of times, but I got used to it."

"Good. Adapting. It's the best thing in everyone's minds right now after what happened to the old coot running the sweets shop. He was a good man. Jolly..."

"You happen to have guns that fit well with a knife?"

"If you're asking that, then you could have been looking for a musket with an attachable bayonet. None here."

"I was actually thinking of the possibility of handling a knife next to a handgun that's quite handy."

"Close fights?"

"Perhaps."

"Oh, you are one swell and naughty lady at that." The gun owner chuckled before pointing at the guns on the table. "These are the ones I have in my disposal, but they're not for sale though."

"I'm not planning to buy them." Eli said this while looking at the gun the owner was holding. ' _Colt Single Action Army... Sleek shape... and if customized with a shortened nose, it could be the ideal one that pairs up with a knife at the murderer's side. He used a knife as a primary weapon, but a shortened SAA could be a backup._ '

The gun owner smiled at her noticing his weapon. "Oh, this? The Colt Single Action Army is one weapon that shouldn't be messed with. This comes from America, but it's been shipped here to my request. Being the gun collector rather gets me going, you know."

"I understand," Eli replied.

"Katch, you can go." The gun owner put this like a command and the man named Katch left the room. "Young lady, you're simply looking at a piece of work. You've been aimed at with a pistol." He was once holding the SAA, just before he rotated with a little throw, letting him hold the nose and extending his arm towards her. "Let's see you do the aiming this time."

Eli didn't waste any time as she walked closer and held her arm out, before clasping her hands at the grip of the SAA. "The grip is refined wood." She mutters before pulling the pistol near her. "Six shots..." Then she examined the sights at the nose. ' _Probably, the killer could put the sight on the nose of a modified SAA while it's shortened._ ' "It's beautiful, indeed."

"Why don't you give it a try?" The gun owner advised it, but she didn't need to be told to do just that.

Eli then looked at a glass bottle target five feet in front of her. She raised her SAA and pulled the hammer down with no problem before she aimed down the fight with one hand. Her posture was well used as one foot was behind the other while her arm is steady as she takes a deep breath, and slowly exhales before putting her finger on the trigger and squeezing it, firing a round. The bullet went straight to the glass bottle and it shattered on impact. She smiled at this as she lowered the SAA. "I thought so."

"You're amazing. You could be a sharpshooter at this rate. Where did you learn how to shoot a gun?"

"I learned it from a man trying to protect me. He died before I fired the first shot. At least his memory lets me keep going on the training. Years of it was there before I fired a revolver with ease."

"I see. He didn't die in vain then. Outstanding." He found her spinning the revolver as she held the hose and cylinder before he took it back and holstered it. "You should drop by sometime again."

"I think this may be the last time. But it's great to experience this again. I'm satisfied enough with what I did."

"Alright then. Stay safe. I doubt you'll be hurt by what you shown me." The gun owner smiles and she smiles back before she left.

And as Eli left the building, she sighed. ' _The perfect weapon could be an SAA. Shorten its nose and it could be turned as a compact, and backup weapon for the dagger..._ '

 ** _In a private room of a saloon..._**

Eli placed the holographic transponder on the table before pressing a button, letting the hologram of Melusine with her hands on her workstation and her eyes on the screen appear to all three Sailors in the room. "Melusine?"

" _Ah... It's you three. What did you want?_ "

"We made some progress. For now, it's nothing solid, but at least we should tell you. First off, the gun that could be used along with that dagger is a compact-custom Colt Single Action Army. The look of it definitely fits in as a secondary weapon to our murderer. I tested one and that great kick rather gets me convinced it's not only powerful, but also dangerous especially at close range. It wouldn't make difference on the distance either."

" _An SAA? It's American and not British. Why would a murderer have an American weapon?_ "

"The best kind of assassins always get the ones that are more durable. In this case, our murderer's not only wise in picking the revolver, but also quite the enthusiast like I am. If I'd want to pick a weapon, it's the one that certainly catches my attention, and see if it's dependable. In the case of the SAA, it's an all-purpose weapon. It's more than dependable."

" _You sure know your guns._ "

"Of course. My daughter almost got killed when I used one to shoot revolvers at oncoming attackers. I tried being a politician. Guess that didn't work out." Eli then looked at Nozomi and Rin. "What did you two find?"

Nozomi sighed. "Thing is, we didn't find anything else, Ericchi. That's really going to be a problem since our murderer won't take any chances the weapon could be identified."

"So that answers how covert he is. He won't take any chances recognizing him. And he's a murderer carrying Shadow energy and manipulating his mind. Plus... He knows the ins and outs of this town. That might explain he's using another comparable model."

" ** _Whatever the case..._** " Melusine spoke and continued. " _...We can only find him on the fact there were events placed on that year. Nozomi, what did you find?_ "

Nozomi then answers. "For now, there's information about a bridge construction at the gorge borders of this country and Scotland. I don't know, but so far that's all I can find."

" _Okay... Stand by..._ " Melusine then typed at her computer, and eventually a few beeps were heard. " _Okay, I got what you meant. This world's history points to a big gorge bridge construction. There are two bridges, with one of them for resource trade purposes, and the other for general use. See, the kings of the two countries are already deciding on Scotland's fate. It seems the Scottish are supposed to depend on the English parliament for resources, and the Scottish have a unique set of resources of their own. To make things work, they needed to go through swaps and trades to support both countries. You see, agriculture in Scotland was greater, and England was only giving out industrial resources to Scotland, which was perfect._ "

"That gives them more of the initiative." Nozomi muttered and interrupted Melusine. "They were once caught in a war for Scotland's dependence or independence from England. Hopefully, the trade bridge plan would extinguish the hate and be a source of peace."

" _Well... at least we got something, because I see a connection of this to Dean Grace. Besides being a smuggler, he's a double-agent to two factions in England: Being a messenger for the royal parliament, and being a smuggler for various underground sides against the parliament. I found this new. Sorry if I didn't tell you guys before. Anyway, that's how it is. He lost interest in both fields and just dropped it. What he's murdered for might be the question we gotta ask ourselves next._ "

Rin hummed in thinking, just before she spoke. "Maybe there was a weapon that Grace was supposed to give?"

" _How can you tell?_ "

"He's a weapons smuggler, right? The weapons should be top-quality types, and could be devastating."

" _True. There WERE some notable guns from different parts of Europe that can break through metal easily at that time._ "

"What are those? Anti-materiel armor-piercing rounds or something?"

" _They were called metal-breakers back at that time, and not armor-piercing. But the same concept applies. There's a weapon of such. But a weapon of such isn't small. It'll have to be big and the murderer should have brought a cart..._ "

"Not necessarily." Eli interrupted Melusine. "Melusine, there are designs of small weapons with anti-armor capabilities. It's good enough if it's not going to last, but it'll only be around for a short time."

" _That's crazy. Nobody else does... Oh, wait..._ " Melusine was heard typing again before a few beeps were heard. " _Okay, I got another page consisting of custom-made weapons for smaller sizes in firing rounds that pierce armor._ "

"Make sure they're small enough to fit packages."

" _You're joking. A pistol, maybe?_ "

"Something crazy like that."

" _Well I have something for you guys then._ " Melusine's holographic image faded before another image appeared. It was the 3D view of a handgun, with a longer and wider nose of greater diameter. It also has a cylinder of its own, as Eli noticed there were three bullets that fit in it. They were rather large rounds to allow the weapon to have big cylinder holes. " _This is one crazy example. But I only know of its history, and its usage. This is one of the filed armor-piercing pistols, shaped like the modern revolver you guys know._ "

Rin was fascinated by it. "This is crazy, nya! No wonder... This needs three hands to lift with one hand."

"One hand is three of them?" Nozomi analyzed Rin's words. "Couldn't it be two handed?"

"That's right, but it can't..." Eli said, looking disappointed. "This kind of weapon was not used by anyone by lifting it with one hand. If I remember correctly, it needed two people to operate this weapon."

" _You know what else?_ " Melusine asked, while the image changed to a carriage, reinforced with metal plating. " _Apparently, this world was focusing on having metallic carts, most especially England. This one you're seeing right here is a standard armoured cart. As I saw pretty much in this royal government's list of protective vehicles, they own an armour cart that can withstand almost all kinds of hostile objects, including bullets, with this model alone no match against theirs. England wasn't taking its chances with the Scottish trying to eliminate any leader inside a cart, apparently. But while the disputes are coming to an end, they're rarely seen. Though... I doubt it'll be the last time. According to my reports here with me, the royal government's armoured cart would be used to take the English Parliament Representative to the bridge construction area to oversee the first day. The Scottish Representative will be joining him, and it will be the time they both agree to the terms they've written to each other about the two countries stopping the disputes and beginning the construction officially. This event will tie the two countries significantly._ "

"An important event..." Eli muttered before speaking louder. "This might be what we have to protect."

" _Perhaps. But will the culprit be the same one who killed our sweets shop owner and weapons smuggler? That might be true. The culprit would need a weapon to pierce the English parliament's armoured cart. It's almost impenetrable, but not to the custom armour-piercing rounds our smuggler must have passed against his will. We're not sure yet. He'll be making his next move at anytime, so we can't say for sure this would be the event he's targeting. Or maybe he's a female?_ "

"It's a male." Nozomi said, opening her eyes. "A minor vision tells me so. There's nothing else I could dig if I try to go deeper."

" _That's helpful, at least. Thank you, Ms. Nozomi._ "

"Though I believe this might be it," Eli said. "I'll have to keep an eye on this and see events related to this. Nozomi, Rin... There's no need for the two of you. I can handle things on my own."

" ** _What?_** " Nozomi and Rin were surprised of Eli's decision.

"It's better only of us see things closely. Or... You could try walking around Isleworth yourselves."

"Ericchi, I'm against your first call." Nozomi said this in response. "I might agree Rin isn't needed, but I need to guide you and..."

"I said... I can handle this on my own. Now if you will excuse me..." Eli then walks to the door. "I have a library to search." She opens the door and leaves the room while closing it behind her.

Rin winced at Eli's idea just now. "I think I saw another side of her, nya..."

Nozomi giggled. "That's Eli for us. If she has deep thoughts, we could at least see she's serious. If there's something she can't handle, it's others holding her back. Rin... Let's keep walking through the town and see what's what. We'll probably catch up to other events the history books didn't record anyway."

" _Good luck to all three of you and stay safe._ " Melusine said this before her image disappeared from the holo-transponder as Rin used a pocket dimension to hide it.

"I'm right behind you, nya!" Rin happily followed Nozomi out of the door...

* * *

 ** _Hi ya! Short update, I think. I'm currently writing this chapter. I'm gonna write the next part so... YUP! :D Hope ya guys enjoyed. PM me or leave reviews._**


	8. Case One: Tracking the Culprit (part 3)

**_YESSSS! I am enrolled in another course. Time flies, huh? I finished BS Information Technology, and now, I'm taking BS Accounting Technology. Goodness, times fly just too fast..._**

 ** _Anyway, I'm gonna do things differently in updating. Recently, I've been required to submit sub-story updates for an author to match up with his story. I'm gonna finish that and it'll take a while before I finish up on updates for my stories. Still... Writing and updating works well for me and I'm not stopping. Ohohoho, no sir-ee!_**

 ** _Now I'm done. Chapter6! Here it is..._**

* * *

 _ **Charlie –**_ _I'm getting closer to my objective. It will be soon. Scotland will be free..._

 _ **1892... Universe Ambrogio, Universe 12 of 20... England...**_

Eli that time was feeling as if she could go solo for a while. Aware that she said Rin and Nozomi were not needed, she was feeling worried as well that she might have said something mean to them. She brushes it off as she eventually approaches Isleworth town's library. It was in a separate building having strong vertical foundations that support the roof, meaning the library building's body has a separate foundation from underneath the ground. The engineering of some buildings here in the town are noticeably different and the library is one of those buildings.

She climbed up the stairs leading to the entrance before she finally entered through the front door. That morning, there were only a few reading in the library. Most of them are teens, but one or two adults are seen in there as well. Eli then told the librarian she'll be fine on her own when she browses the books by herself, following the rule she needs not to be noisy.

The books were interesting as she browsed the history of the world through the books she read and she found interesting things. The way the English had been utilizing in armoured carts was an interest to her, so she began researching a bit on their engineering of standard carts. The armoured carts seemed to only be available to nobility who want to be protected. Standard wooden carts are more common, but armoured carts seem to be special. The royal government's protective cart made for officials seems impervious to damage since it uses advanced raw material, and they're pretty much rare in England at this point. The royal government took the raw material as an advantage and used it to build the royal government's 'armoured arsenal cart,' another name for the strongest armoured cart in the world at this time and in England alone.

" _ **Interested in armoured carts, are we?**_ " A low-key young woman said this while she was reading another book. She had short brown hair, wears glasses and looks to be in her thirties or so as she looked at Eli with the abundance of books she had beside her. "Darling, if you're going to research about the carts made, you should ask the makers of it. Some of them live in Isleworth. This town after all is near the bridge project to Scotland."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were into them as well."

"...only for the liking, dear. I don't know the makers too well, but if you're interesting, I'll write up one of them for you." The woman eventually took a piece of paper from nearby and used a feather quill pen before dipping it in ink. She then wrote on the paper that quick and delicate at the same time. This took Eli off-guard. Even SHE didn't know how to balance delicacy with quickness in using the feather quill pen. Eventually, the woman finishes it and hands over the paper with the ink already dry. "You should know that he takes his work quite seriously. If you have any questions about the armoured cart, ask him."

Eli gladly took the piece of paper and looked at the content. "Hm... Roy Graves. He's the general engineering chief, you say. And he's just close by. Would you mind if...?" But before she finished the question to look at the woman, she wasn't there anymore. She winced and looked around and it didn't make any sense. The woman was gone like she disappeared in thin air. ' _Where is she...?_ '

 _ **Meanwhile back in Cosmos Sailors' HQ...**_

Maki was wondering of what Melusine was doing. That time, Melusine was seated on the floor with her eyes closed, like she was meditating. ' _But what for? Does she need to get in touch with the universe or something?_ '

" _ **Maki-chan.**_ " Koizumi called before she approached Maki, just before she looked at the meditating Melusine in front of them. "Ah... Melusine-sama thought she could focus and try attain inner-peace."

"I thought that the was the case. The mission is definitely something for us to take note of, huh? And she might need to give it her all."

" _ **Not necessarily,**_ " Melusine replied as she slowly opened her eyes and looked at Maki. "I only need just enough to perform well in the day or in whatever situation calls to my intervention. You're welcome to join me. You'll see different things if you focus with me. Trust me... Patience is counted and it'll be quite fun." And as Melusine said it, Umi suddenly approached from behind and took a seat on the floor beside Melusine. "Ms. Sonoda, it's a good thing you're here. Care to join?"

"Of course," said Umi. "I'd love to. The pressure at this moment is making me feel off, and I wish to relax for a bit."

"You come to the right place, Ms. Sonoda. Have patience and good things will come to you when you do this with me. Now... Take a deep breath and close your eyes as a start. I'll follow suit. Okay?"

"Thank you." Umi then took to Melusine's sitting position, with one leg crossing over the other before she attains her balance and finally closing her eyes as she took a deep breath, and breathed slowly.

Maki seemed interested of this and decides. "I'm joining. Koizumi if you want, you can come with me too."

"Ah. Thanks, but I have things to do. I want to do this someday, though." Koizumi then walks away from the three with a smile as she waved Maki goodbye.

Maki eventually sits down beside Melusine before taking a deep breath, closing her eyes, and breathing out slowly. ' _I wonder what I'll attain from this, though...?_ '

And it felt like time passed as her eyes were closed, that everything around her disappeared into nothingness.

 _ **Maki –**_ _It felt like I was floating in a dark void which had nothing. But then, I felt a little light in front of me. I didn't open my eyes yet. But as the light finally grew bright, I opened them little by little, until I was in a medium-sized bedroom. There was a piano there. It was daytime, it seems. The bed is extravagant. Then someone was playing on the piano, while someone was lying on the bed._

She then remembered what this was to her. "This is... a memory." She winced at this and approached the bed, seeing the one who was lying down. The person was actually herself, in her sixties, with her eyes closed. The hair was scattered on the bed, coloured brownish-red and with some white hair.

 _This is me... Listening very well to the song. I remember. This was one of my final days before I died. My daughter... She was playing me one of the songs I composed... It was actually based on those who wanted to fulfil their dreams. It had a mix of making one want to be an idol, and making one successful. I put it to blend in an instrumental and my daughter learned of it._

 _Then I saw my old self smile, knowing the song I composed is played perfectly by someone else. I didn't let her listen to this, since it was a secret I've been keeping. See... I've always wanted to do things alone, but she was always at my side, giving me the message that I shouldn't be solo all the time. After she gave me that advice, she lived with me from now on. She's only 34 right now, and she's grown-up._

Maki's surroundings slowly turned bright white until her surroundings changed when it dimmed again. She was at a cemetery at a high sunny noon. Then she saw her daughter, standing in front of a grave.

 _I already know whose grave that belongs to. Cancer was never friendly to me at all and I lost against it. It's sad I left her there, but I didn't mean to. But, I already knew my end was coming anyway._

 _And now... I'm looking at Yukio Nishikino, crying in front of my grave. She deserves better..._

Eventually, Maki got behind her daughter and called: "Yukio..."

And Yukio turned around, still in tears and eventually was surprised. Her own mother, young and somehow appearing solidly whole while wearing a white dress, was in front of her. "Oka-san...?!" And she immediately moved forward to try and hug Maki. She wasn't able to do it, since Maki isn't physically there, letting her pass her own mother's spirit. "What...? You're..."

"Yukio... I'm sorry, but..."

 _Now I remember. I always felt there was a moment I missed before I got reunited with the other members of μ's. THIS was the moment. The only reason why I'm remembering it now, is because I was wishing for it._

Maki then frowned as she continued. "The first thing I thought before I got to you... is if I was worthy to see you. I'm sorry, Yukio. But..." Maki slowly smiled, still seeing Yukio crying in sadness, just before Maki holds her hand up to Yukio's cheeks, enough that the surface of her hand touches her skin. "You shouldn't cry. I'm actually proud of you. You grew up to be stronger than how I was before."

"Hm?"

"College was tough, as well as work. Raising a child so early seemed to make it much worse, but you were able to manage your life like it's a pinch. I'm glad for that. I'm glad you didn't follow me and went to do better."

"But... I always respected you. I loved you for who you are, Oka-san."

"I know that. Perhaps this is how fate treats me. Though, it was my time to begin with."

"You're about to leave me."

"No. Not yet." Maki then saw fit to glare at Yukio's eyes. "Yukio... be strong. You're my daughter and you'll always be. There will be a very crucial time you WILL need me, but for one last time. Perhaps I've seen a lot of improvement from you, but there's one thing I need to see you succeed in before I really see you independent. Promise me, that you will wait for me until that time. The trace of my life, depends on you accomplishing what you still need to do. Can you do that?"

Yukio is given the opportunity to do something for her mother. Though, it would take a certain amount of time until it happens. This made Yukio curious. "What is it so important do you want me to do?"

"...something that could solidify my presence and yours. Something in the future will happen and our names will be remembered." Maki said this with no doubt in front of her daughter.

 _I'm greatly anticipating something that would happen in the years later on. I never told any of my other teammates yet. This is something I need to deal with myself, but will need Yukio's help for it._

"Then I'll wait for you," said Yukio now wiping her tears away. "But where will you be until that time comes?"

"I'll be at a place to probably get stronger, Yukio. Something for you to experience is what I'll experience first. Do you understand?"

"Yes... Oka-san. But... How long?"

"Just have patience, my dear. I know I'm not the mother who you thought should be..."

"Stop it. Oka-san, I forgave you a long time ago, for everything. There's no need for this. Whatever you want me to do, I'll wait for it. If that's that case, then fulfil your promise that you indeed come back."

"I will. Thank you for believing in me." Maki's body then started to fade before she levitated and hovered backwards while holding her arm out. "Promise me... Yukio. Wait for me...!" Maki then lets a tear drop from her eye before her body fully disappears from Yukio's eyes.

 _Now I remember. I meant to really meet Yukio after my death. This is just after seeing my most cherished moment... hearing my daughter play my own piano piece for me. It allowed me to meet her, and give her instructions for my return, and what we should do._

 _It's a promise I'll always remember... Yukio..._

Maki suddenly opened her eyes and gasped deeply for breath. She found herself still seated on the floor and surprised that she just returned from something she couldn't explain. Not only that... but the rest of the Cosmos Sailors not counting Nozomi, Rin and Eli, and included Melusine, were all shocked to finally see Maki awake. "Wait... what happened...? Melusine..."

"Ms. Nishikino..." Melusine then bent beside Maki. "You were in meditation for 2 hours straight."

"Wait, what...?!"

"It's true," Nico said. "We were trying to wake you up but it felt like you were sleeping too heavily."

"So it happened..." Maki said this to herself before revealing: "It felt like minutes. But... Melusine, what else did you experience from me?"

"Nothing at the most is what I've seen, but this is common. The rest of you should know you're not human anymore. You're all half Cosmic-Fairies. I'm a full one, but you guys are still partly human. What she experienced was her glimpse of the past. Believe it or not... She interacted with her daughter."

The rest gasped in shock.

"No way...!" Nico said.

"She's done that...?! How?!" Honoka asked this in high curiosity and concern.

"It's rather simple," Melusine replied. "She first experienced the most cherished memory she had while she was still living. And based on her brain activity, it tells of a moment when she hears a song she first composed. And Yukio, her daughter, as I believe was playing the same song. It was the most cherished moment Maki experienced, since she composed that when her life was thriving with wonders. Raising a child wasn't easy."

"Ehehehe..." Maki chuckles before finding the strength to eventually stand on her feet. "I guess I forgot that part since after my death came the moment I really give my daughter instructions. Was it really meant to be that way?"

"Ms. Nishikino, the only reason your state of species allowed you to do so, is because you wanted to leave something more than a memory for Yukio. But what is it, exactly?"

"I want you to wait for it, Melusine. It's something important. But I'm not ready to tell it to you now."

"Alright. But you gotta tell us all at a certain time, right?"

"Just wait for that." Maki smiles and turns her head to the others. "I gained something from the experience I had. I would like to show all of you. Retrieving your most precious memory is one way of receiving your power. Like so..." Maki then raises her arm as she closes her eyes. Her hand is wide open as she felt her surroundings disappeared and the wide universe is shown to her own eyes.

Thus she recited: " _ **By the power of the great cosmos, I SUMMON THEE!**_ " Maki then felt a surge of power starting from the tip of her fingers of her open hand as it travelled down quickly to her feet. A red and orange flare surrounded her body. As her hand remained open, it glowed from dim to a bright level before a white flare started forming the hilt of some sort of sword. Then, the sword's figure was made into the final shape of a rapier. Her hand closes and she held the hilt before the rapier materializes into reality. She held it before the hilt then shown bright red stars while the sharpness of the rapier was noticed as it shown on her. " _ **Cosmic Rapier!**_ " She made a duel rapier stance before she swung downwards, then horizontally just before she got to her ready stance. Her surroundings eventually changed as she was showing this to the rest. She felt like it was more than an instinct to her and was confident at it. "That was it." And the rest were in awe...

"No way..." Melusine couldn't believe she saw Maki's extension herself. "If you can make the extension from your own consciousness, then you obviously have your power with you now."

"Exactly." Maki smirked as she felt something come out from her back. She wasn't afraid and she spreads her fairy wings. Then she looks at her own wings closely. "Wow... So these are my fairy wings... I didn't feel I was ready to show all of this unless I knew my power, which I have an idea of. Nico... stand in front of me."

"Why me?" Nico herself stood in front of Maki before the redhead suddenly walked to her, then surprisingly through and past her from behind. Nico felt some chill from inside her before turning around in shock. "What in the hell was that?! Did you just walk THROUGH me?!"

"How else would you describe that?"

"You turned into a ghost!"

"Hehe... Silly. The power I showed to you is what I would call Intangibility."

" _ **Meaning,**_ " Melusine starts to explain. "...that she can go through almost anything. Her intangibility should be tested further. But for now, we know she can phase through normal living beings."

Kotori was looking intently when she suddenly sees Maki sink down using her intangibility. Then she suddenly felt hands hold her shoes. She's shocked of it just before her shoes phased through the flooring before she stopped. Kotori was shocked as she was stuck, then saw Maki in front of her as she ascended back standing on the floor. "Nishikino-san!"

"Well... I can phase through anything. This proves I could also get one to phase through anything as long as they're touching me." Maki explains as she grabs Kotori's hand as she pulls her up, letting her phase out from the floor before letting go. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay," Kotori said in relief. "Don't do that again."

"I doubt it might be the last time, Kotori. Melusine... How's Eli doing?"

"Ms. Ayase?" Melusine asked, but answered Maki's question. "She's still investigating what seems to be further details into the armoured cart's origin. She might get useful information and could be a bit of a related case she needs to look at."

"I'll come down there whenever the time's right."

"Why not now? You can always join her so you can give her a helping hand."

"Then I need you to help me on something, Melusine." Maki winked afterwards and started walking to the fighting arena.

"Ah. Alright then." Melusine then walked beside Maki as they both walked to the fighting arena hoping to see what Maki is made of...

 _ **Meanwhile back in Isleworth Town...**_

"Hm..." Eli was looking at an open book she held and was intrigued by its contents. ' _The raw materials came from a meteorite crash. They were first fluid in movement but they solidified when the raw material embedded itself onto Earth's surface. Since then, it had been mined and England was on top of the armoured cart industry. Others don't know about this yet and Japan and America have yet to see this._ '

" _ **I see you're enjoying yourself.**_ " A familiar woman's voice was heard across the room Eli was in and she was surprised that the woman she saw at the library was the one who knows the book too well.

"Um..." Eli couldn't say anything since she couldn't believe the same person was the one who owned the book. "You're the author of the book?"

"Who do you think knows more about armoured carts in the country? I'm sorry if I confused back there at the library."

"For a woman, you're certainly gaining so much profit here. I mean... You've gotten a lot of books in store while you're the one in charge of the design of a standard armoured cart. But did you also design that of the royal government's armoured cart?"

"Yes. I'm also the one who put up for their design. Actually, the term is 'armoured carriage.' Though, many Englishmen call it 'armoured carts' for short," the woman explains while adjusting her glasses.

"You're Sarah Bardsley, England's current armoured cart designer and production manager. I'm honoured."

"And... I'm honoured to meet you..." Sarah smirks at Eli. "...Ms. Eli Ayase."

* * *

 _ **\- Case One: Tracking the Culprit (part 3) –**_

 _ **TO BE CONTINUED...**_


	9. Chapter 7 preview

**_Next time on The Nine Stars: Cosmos Sailors..._**

* * *

"You're Sarah Bardsley, England's current armoured cart designer and production manager. I'm honoured," Eli says in respect to the great armoured cart designer.

"And... I'm honoured to meet you..." Sarah smirks at Eli. "...Ms. Eli Ayase."

* * *

"The bridge project connecting Isleworth of England and another town in Scotland might just be the main focus." Melusine said while crossing her arms. "If it is disrupted there and then... then we know what will happen next. Shadows will be attracted and the world will be an instant place for fear, death and misery."

* * *

"I don't know if I should be depended on again." Rin said with disappointment on her face. "I let someone die because I was too slow."

"What happened in the past can be made up this time, Rin." Maki says while putting her hand on Rin's shoulder. "After all... you got the speed now, right?"

* * *

"Whatever this is..." Nozomi muttered as she looked at what looks like a big flintlock pistol with a thick body laid in a gun-case. It's not a normal kind though. "This isn't the type usually used at this time. No... This is isn't..." She gasps as she looked back in shock. The house she was in ignited in fire because of a sudden explosion from its interior.

* * *

"Liberation was never the answer," Charlie muttered to himself as he loaded his big flintlock with a sharp round. "The answer is war. And it only makes me win more." He smiles, while his body emitted dark aura...

* * *

 ** _\- Case One: Tracking the Culprit (part 4) –_**

 ** _COMING SOON..._**


	10. NOTE

NOPE! Don't even think about it! I am NOT on hiatus. Unless I say, don't you dare think that I am on hiatus.

Fellow strikers, I was enjoying myself in playing Star Wars: The Old Republic, and ARMA III. Don't say I like being an addict in games. I'm just exploring different things.

Besides that, I've been doing crazy RP's with two authors in FF, and IT WAS AWESOME! :D The other author took a break for a while, and the other author and I have an RP that's still alive, thanks to the times.

And oh... Christmas is coming once again! I got plans to update the Sonicbird series first. After that, I'll do rotating updates on all of my fanficts. I suggest you guys PM me for suggestions of what my next updates would be, and how often they'll be made. Consider my position as author though: I can't write all the time.

Enjoy your Christmas days and whatever others call it in other religions. Smile, fellow Striker. ;)


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